PRESENTED  TO  THE  LIBRARY 


OF 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICHL  SEMINHRY 


BY 


JWps.  flle^tander  Ppoudfit. 


BX  9178  .B43  S4  1828 
Beecher,  Lyman,  1775-1863. 
Sermons  delivered  on  various 
occasions 


^ 


'^  A^S>^^^^^>^5^:^ 


^^^^ 


•.       «  ♦ 


^>^^ 


v^ 


._  X., 


^^^»-*  ^-^ 


nmgmmmmmm 


SERMONS 


DEIilVERED    ON 


VARIOUS     OCCASIONS, 


LYMAN  BEECHER,  D.  D. 


BOSTON : 

T.    R.    MARVIN,    32,    CONGRESS  STREET. 


SOLD    BY    CROCKER    &    BREWSTER,    HILLIARD,    GRAY   AND    COMPANY, 

JAMES    L.ORING,   AND    PIERCE    &   WILLIAMS,   BOSTON. 

JONATHAN   LEAVITT,    NEW-YORK. 


1828. 


^  ^ 
i'%>> .' 


DISTRICT  OF  JIASSACHUSETTS to  wit  : 

District  Clerk's  Office. 
Be  it  remembered,  that  on  the  twenty  sixth  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1828,  in 
the  fifty  second  Year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
Theophilus  R.  Marvin,  of  the  said  District,  has  deposited  in  this  Office  the 
Title  of  a  BooIj,  the  Right  whereof  he  claims  as  Proprietor,  in  the  Words 
following,  to  wit  : 

Sermons  delivered  on  various  occasions,  by  Lyman  Beecher,  D.  D. 
In  conformity  to  the  Act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled  "  An 
Act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts  and 
books,  to  the  autliors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  tlierein  men- 
tioned :"  and  also  to  an  Act  entitled  "  An  Act  supplementary  to  an  Act,  entitled, 
An  Act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  \jy  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts 
and  books  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  during  the  times  therein 
mentioned;  and  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving 
and  etching  historical  and  other  prints." 

i\srt   \^T    r»  A  via    S  Clerk  of  the  District 
JNO.  W.  DAVIS,  ^      of  Massachusetts. 


CONTENTS. 


^' 


SERMON  I. 

The  Government  of  God  Desirable. — A  Sermon 
delivered  at  Newark,  N.  J.  October,  1808, 
during  the  session  of  the  Synod  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey, 


Page. 


SERMON  II. 
The  Remedy  for   Duelling. — A  Sermon  delivered 
before  the  Presbytery  of  Long  Island,  at  the 
opening  of  their   session   at   Aquebogue,  April 
16,  1806, 30 

'  SERMON  III. 
A  Reformation  of  Morals  Practicable  and  Indis- 
pensable.— A  Sermon  delivered  at  New  Haven, 
Conn,  on  the  evening  of  October  27,  1812,       .     .         68 

SERMON  IV. 
The  Building  of  Waste  Places. — A  Sermon  deliver- 
ed at  Wolcott,  Conn.  September  21, 1814,  at  the 
Installation   of  the  Rev.  John  Keyes,   to  the 
Pastoral  care  of  the  Church  in  that  place,    .     .     .       103 

SERMON  V. 
/  The  Bible  a  Code  of  Laws. — A  Sermon  delivered  in 
Park  Street  Church,  Boston,  September  3, 1817, 
at  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Sereno  Edwards  Dwight, 
as  Pastor  of  that  Church  ;  and  of  Messrs.  Eli- 
sha  P.  Swift,  Allen  Graves,  John  Nichols,  Levi 
Parsons,  and  Daniel  Buttrick,  as  Missionaries 
to  the  Heathen, 138 


IV 

Page. 
SERMON  VI. 
The  Design,  Rights,  and  Duties  of  Local  Church- 
es.— A  Sermon  delivered  at  the  Installation  of 
the  Rev.  Elias  Cornelius,  as  Associate  Pastor  of 
the  Tabernacle  Church  in  Salem,  Mass.  July 
21,  1819, 182 

SERMON  VII. 

The  Faith  once  delivered  to  the  Saints. — A  Ser- 
mon delivered  at  Worcester,  Mass.  October  15, 
1823,  at  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Loammi 
Ives  Hoadly,  to  the  Pastoral  office  over  the 
Calvinistic  Church  and  Society  in  that  place,  .     .       217 

SERMON  VIII. 

Resources  of  the  Adversary  and  Means  of  their 
Destruction. — A  Sermon  preached  October  12, 
1827,  before  the  American  Board  of  Missions, 
at  New  York, 267 

SERMON  IX. 

The  Memory  of  our  Fathers. — A  Sermon  delivered 
at  Plymouth,  on  the  twenty-second  of  December, 
1827, 293 


APPENDIX. 

Reply  to  the  Review  of  Dr.  Beecher's  Sermon  deliv- 
ered at  Worcester,  Mass.  October  15,  1823,     .     .       319 


SERMON  I. 


THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  GOD   DESIRABLE. 


Matthew,  vi.  10. 

Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. 

In-  this  passage  we  are  instructed  to  pray,  that  the  world 
may  be  governed,  and  not  abandoned  to  the  miseries  of 
unrestrained  sin  ;  that  God  himself  would  govern,  and  not 
another ;  and  that  God  would  administer  the  government  of 
the  world,  in  all  respects  according  to  his  own  pleasure.  The 
passage  is  a  formal  surrender  to  God,  of  power  and  dominion 
over  the  earth,  as  entire  as  his  dominion  is  in  heaven.  The 
petition,  therefore,  "  thy  will  be  done,"  contains  the  doctrine, 

That  it  is  greatly  to  be   desired  that  god  should 

GOVERN  the  world,  A?JD  DISPOSE   OF  MEN,  IN  ALL  RESPECTS, 
ENTIRELY    ACCORDING    TO  'HIS    OWN    PLEASURE. 

The  truth  of  this  doctrine  is  so  manifest,  that  it  would  seem 
to  rank  itself  in  the  number  of  self-evident  propositions, 
incapable  of  proof  clearer  than  its  own  light,  had  not  expe- 
rience taught,  that  of  all  truths,  it  is  the  most  universally  and 
bitterly  controverted.  Plain  as  it  is,  it  has  occasioned  more 
argument  than  any  other  doctrine,  and  by  argument  merely, 
has  gained  fewer  proselytes  :  for,  it  is  one  of  those  contro- 


versies  in  which  the  heart  decides  wholly,  and  argument, 
strong  or  feeble,  is  alike  ineffectual. 

This  consideration  would  present,  in  the  threshold,  a  hope- 
less impediment  to  further  progress,  did  we  not  know  also, 
that  arguments  a  thousand  times  repeated,  and  as  often 
resisted,  may  at  length  become  mighty  through  God,  to  the 
casting  down  imaginations,  and  every  high  thing  that  exalteth 
itself  against  the  knowledge  of  God.  I  shall,  therefore, 
suggest  several  considerations  to  confirm  this  most  obvious 
truth,  that  it  is  desirable  that  God  should  govern  the  world 
entirely  according  to  his  own  good  pleasure. 

First.  It  is  desirable  that  God  should  govern  the  world, 
'  and  dispose  of  all  events,  according  to  his  pleasure,  because 
he  knows  perfectly  in  ivhnt  manner  it  is  best  that  the  world 
\  should  be  governed. 

The  best  way  of  disposing  of  men  and  their  concerns,  is 
that  which  will  most  effectually  illustrate  the  glory  of  God. 
The  glory  of  God  is  the  sun  of  the-  moral  universe,  the  light 
and  life  of  his  kingdom.  All  the  blessedness  of  the  intelligent 
creation  arises,  and  ever  will  arise,  from  the  manifestation 
and  apprehension  of  the  glory  of  God.  It  was  to  manifest 
this  glory,  that  the  worlds  were  created.  It  was,  that  there 
might  be  creatures  to  behold  and  enjoy  God,  that  his  domin- 
ions were  peopled  with  intelligent  beings.  And  it  is,  that  his 
holy  subjects  may  see  and  enjoy  him,  that  he  upholds  and 
•governs  the  universe.  The  entire  importance  of  our  world, 
therefore,  and  of  men  and  their  concerns,  is  relative,  and  is 
great  or  small,  only,  as  we  are  made  to  illustrate  the  glory  of 
God.  How  this  important  end  shall  be  most  effectually 
accomplished,  none  but  himself  is  able  to  determine.  He, 
only,  knows  how  so  to  order  things,  as  that  the  existence  of 
every  being,  and  every  event,  shall  answer  the  purpose  of  its 
creation,  and  from  the  rolling  of  a  world,  to  the  fall  of  a 
sparrow,  shall  conspire  to  increase  the  exhibitions  of  the 
divine  character,  and  expand  the  joy  of  the  holy  universe. 

An  inferior  intelligence  at  the  helm  of  government,  might 


»Jii>>. 


conceive  very  desirable  purposes  of  benevolence,  and  still  be 
at  a  loss  as  to  the  means  most  fit  and  effectual  to  accomplish 
them.  But  with  God,  there  is  no  such  deficiency.  In  him, 
the  knowledge  which  discovered  the  end,  iHscovers  also,  with 
unerring  wisdom,  the  most  appropriate  means  to  bring  it  to 
pass.  He  is  wise  in  heart ;  he  hath  established  the  world  by 
his  wisdom,  and  stretched  out  the  heavens  by  his  discretion. 
And  is  he  not  wise  enough  to  be  intrusted  with  the  govern- 
ment of  the  world  ?  Who  then  shall  be  his  counsellor  ?  Who 
shall  supply  the  deficiencies  of  his  skill  ?  Oh  the  presumption 
of  vain  man  !  and  oh  the  depths  both  of  the  wisdom  and 
knowledge  of  God  ! 

Secondly.  It  is  desirable  that  God  should  govern  the 
world  according  to  his  own  pleasure,  because  he  is  entirely 
able  to  execute  his  purposes. 

\A  wise  politician  perceives,  often,  both  the  end  and  the 
means,  and  is  still  unable  to  bring  to  pass  his  couiisels, 
because  the  means,  though  wise,  are  beyond  his  control. 
But  God  is  as  able  to  execute,  as  he  is  to  plan./  Having 
chosen  the  end,  and  selected  the  means,  his  counsels  stand. 
He  is  the  Lord  God  omnipotent.  The  whole  universe  is  a 
storehouse  of  means,  and  w"hen  he  speaks,  every  intelligence 
and  every  atom  flies  to  execute  his  pleasure.  The  omnipo- 
tence of  God  in  giving  efficacy  to  his  government,  inspires 
and  perpetuates  the  ecstacy  of  heaven.  "  And  a  voice  came 
out  from  the  throne,  saying.  Praise  our  God.  And  I  heard 
as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of 
many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  many  thunderings,  saying, 
Alleluia,  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth."  What  will 
that  man  do  in  heaven,  who  is  afraid  and  reluctant  to  commit 
to  Ged  the  government  of  the  earth  ?  And  what  will  become 
of  those  who,  unable  to  frustrate  his  counsels,  murmur  and 
rebel  against  his  providence  ? 

Thirdly,  "-^t  is  desirable  that  God  should  govern  the  world 
according  to  his  pleasure,  because  the  pleasure  of  God  is 
always  good.^ 


8 

The  angels  who  kept  not  their   first   estate,    and   many 
wicked  men,  have  great  knowledge,  and  skill,  and  power  : 
and  yet,   on  these   accounts,   are   only  the   more    terrible  ; 
because  they  empley  these  mighty  faculties  to  do  evil.     And 
the  government  of  God,  were  he   a  being  of  malevolence, 
armed  as   he  is  with  skill   and  power,  would  justly  fill  the 
universe  with  dismay.     But  as  it  is,  brethren,  "  let  not  your 
hearts   be  troubled."     With  God  there  is  no  perversion  of 
attributes.     He  is  as  good,  as  he  is  wise  and  powerful.     God 
is  love  !     Love  is  that  glory  of  God  which  he  has  underta- 
ken to  express  to  his  intelligent  creation  in  his  works.     The 
sole   object  of  the  government  of  God,    from  beginning  to 
end,  is,  to  express  his  benevolence.     His  eternal  decrees,  of 
which  so  many  are  afraid,  are  nothing  but  the  plan  which 
God   has  devised,  to  express  his  benevolence,  and  to  make 
his  kingdom  as  vast  and  as  blessed  as  his  own   infinite  good- 
ness desires.     It  was  to  show  his  glory,  to  express,  in  action, 
his  benevolence,  that  he  created  all  the  worlds  that  roll,  and 
rejoice,  and   speak  his  name,  through  the  regions  of  space. 
It  is  to  accomplish  the  same  blessed  design,  that  he  upholds 
and  governs  every  being,  and  directs  every  event,  causing 
every   movement,  in  every  world,  to   fall  in,  in  its  appointed 
time  and  place,  and  to  unite  in  promoting  the  grand  result — 
the  glory  of  God,    and   the   highest  good   of  his   kingdom. 
And  is  there  a  mortal,  who,  from  this  great  system  of  blessed 
government,    would    wish    this    earth   to  be   an   exception .'' 
What  sort   of  beings  must   those  be,   who   are   afraid   of  a 
government,  administered  by  infinite  benevolence  to  express, 
so  far  as  it  can  be  expressed,  the  infinite  goodness  of  God. 
1  repeat  the  question — What  kind  of  characters  must  those 
be,  who  feel  as  if  they  had  good  reason  to  fear  a  government, 
the   sole  object  of  which  is,  to   express  the  immeasurable 
goodness  of  God  ! 

Fourthly.  Jt  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  God  should 
govern  the  world  according  to  his  pleasure,  because  it  is  his 
pleasure  to  rule  as  a  moral  governor^\^ 

( 


9 

A  moral  government,  is  a  government  exercised  over 
accountable  beings  ;  a  government  of  laws,  and  administered 
by  motives. 

The  importance  of  such  a  government  below,  is  manifest 
from  the  consideration,  that  it  is  in  his  moral  government, 
chiefly,  that  the  glory  of  God  is  displayed. 

The  superintendence  of  an  empty  world,  or  a  world  of 
mere  animals,  would  not  exhibit,  at  all,  the  moral  character 
of  God.  The  glory  of  God,  shining  in  his  law,  could  never 
be  made  manifest,  and  the  brighter  glory  of  God,  as  dis- 
played in  the  Gospel,  must  remain  forever  hid.  And  all  that 
happiness  of  which  we  are  capable,  as  moral  beings,  the 
joys  of  religion  below,  and  the  boundless  joys  of  heaven 
above,  would  be  extinguished,  in  a  moment,  by  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  divine  moral  government. 

Will  any  pretend  that  the  Almighty  cannot  maintain  a 
moral  government  on  earth,  if  he  governs  according  to  his 
own  pleasure  .''  Can  he  wield  the  elements,  and  control,  at 
his  pleasure,  every  work  of  his  hands  but  just  the  mind  of 
man  ?  Is  the  most  noble  work  of  God,  that  which  is  the 
most  worthy  of  attention,  and  in  reference  to  which,  all 
beside  is  upheld  and  governed,  itself  wholly  unmanageable  ? 

Has  omnipotence  framed  minds,  which,  the  moment  they 
are  made,  escape  from  l^is  hands,  and  defy  the  control  of 
their  maker  ?  Has  the  Almighty  erected  a  moral  kingdom 
which  he  cannot  govern,  without  destroying  its  moral  nature  ? 
Can  he  only  watch,  and  mend,  and  rectify,  the  lawless 
wanderings  of  mind  f  Has  he  filled  the  earth  with  untamed 
und  untamable  spirits,  whose  wickedness  and  rebellion  he 
can  merely  remedy,  but  cannot  control  ?  Does  he  superin- 
tend a  world  of  madmen,  full  of  darkness  and  disorder, 
cheered  and  blessed  by  no  internal  pervading  government  of 
his  own  ?  Are  we  bound  to  submit  to  all  events,  as  parts  of 
the  holy  providence  of  God  ;  and  yet,  is  there  actually  no 
hand  of  God  controlling  the  movements  of  the  moral  world  .'' 
But  if  the  Almighty  can,  and  if  he  does,  govern  the  earth  as 


10 

a  part  of  his  moral  kingdom,  is  there  any  method  of  govern- 
ment more  safe  and  wise,  than  that  which  pleases  God  ? 
Can  there  be  a  better  government  ?  We  may  safely  pray, 
then,  "  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven,"  without 
fearing  at  all,  the  loss  of  moral  agency  ;  for  all  the  glory  of 
God,  in  his  Law  and  Gospel,  and  all  the  eternal  manifesta- 
tions of  glory  to  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places, 
depend  wholly  upon  the- fact,  that  men,  though  living  under 
the  government  of  God,  and  controlled  according  to  his 
pleasure,  are  still,  entirely  free,  and  accountable  for  all  the 
deeds  done  in  the  body.  There  could  be  no  justice  in  pun- 
ishment, no  condescension,  no  wisdom,  no  mercy  in  the 
glorious  Gospel,  did  not  the  government  of  God,  though 
administered  according  to  his  pleasure,  include  and  insure 
the  accountable  agency  of  the  creature. 

Seeing,  therefore,  that  all  the  glory  of  God  which  he  ever 
proposes  to  manifest  to  the  intelligent  creation,  is  to  be  made 
known  by  the  church,  and  is  to  shine  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  is  to  depend  upon  the  perfect  consistency  of  the 
moral  government  of  God  with  human  freedom,  we  have 
boundless  assurance,  that,  among  his  absolute,  immutable, 
eternal  purposes,  one,  and  a  leading  one,  is,  so  to  govern 
the  w^orld  according  to  his  counsels,  that,  if  men  sin,  there 
shall  be  complete  desert  of  punishnient,  and  boundless  mercy 
in  their  redemption. 

Fifthly.  <^It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  God  should  rule  in 
the  earth  according  to  his  pleasure,  because  it  is  his  pleasure 
to  govern  the  world  in  mercy,  by  Jesus  Christ.   ^> 

The  government  is  in  the  hand  of  a  Mediator,  by  whom 
God  is  reconcihng  the  world  to  himself,  not  imputing  their 
trespasses  to  them  that  believe.  Mercy  is  the  bestowment 
of  pardon  and  favor  upon  the  sinful  and  undeserving. 
Now  mankind  are  so  eminently  sinful,  that  no  government, 
but  one  administered  in  infinite  mercy,  could  afford  the  least 
consolation.  Had  any  being,  but  the  God  of  mercy,  sat 
upon  the  throne,  or  any  will  but  his    will    prevailed,  there 


11 

would  have  been  no  plan  of  redemption,  and  no  purposes  of 
election,  to  perplex  and  alarm  the  wicked.  There  would 
have  been  but  one  decree,  and  that  would  have  been  de- 
struction to  the  whole  race  of  man.  Are  any  reluctant,  to 
be  entirely  in  the  hands  of  God  ?  Are  they  afraid  to  trust 
him  to  dispose  of  soul  and  body,  for  time  and  for  eternity  ^ 
Let  them  surrender  their  mercies  then,  and  go  out  naked, 
from  that  government  which  feeds,  protects,  and  comforts 
them.  Let  them  give  up  their  Bibles,  and  relinquish  the 
means  of  grace,  and  the  hopes  of  glory,  and  descend  and 
make  their  bed  in  hell,  where  they  have,  long  since,  deserved 
to  be,  and  where  they  long  since  would  have  been,  if  God 
had  not  governed  the  world  according  to  his  own  good 
pleasure.  If  they  would  escape  the  evils  which  they  fear 
from  the  hand  of  God,  let  them  abandon  the  blessings  they 
receive  from  it,  and  they  will  soon  discover,  whether  the  ab- 
solute dominion  of  God,  and  their  dependence  upon  him,  be, 
in  reality,  a  ground  of  murmuring  and  alarm.  Our  only 
hope  of  heaven,  arises  from  being  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
God.  Our  destruction  could  not  be  made  more  certain 
than  it  would  be,  were  we  to  be  given  up  to  our  own  dispo- 
sal, or  to  the  disposal  of  any  being  but  God.  Would  sinful 
mortals  change  their  own  hearts  ^  Could  the  combined  uni- 
verse, without  God,  change  the  depraved  affections  of  men  .'' 
Surely  then,  we  have  cause  for  unceasing  joy,  that  we  are  in 
the  hands  of  God,  seeing  he  is  a  God  of  mercy,  and  has  de- 
creed to  rule  in  mercy,  and  actually  is  administering  the 
government  of  the  world,  in  mercy  by  Jesus  Christ. 

We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  entire  dominion  of  God, 
which  we  should  not  have  cause  equally  to  fear,  as  outcasts 
from  the  divine  government ;  but  we  have  every  thing  to  hope, 
while  he  rules  the  earth  according  to  his  most  merciful 
pleasure.  The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth  rejoice,  let  the 
multitude  of  the  isles  be  glad.  It  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies 
that  we  are  not  consumed,  because  his  compassions  fail  not. 

Sixthly.^  It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  God  should  dispose 


12 

of  mankind  according  to  his  pleasure,  because,  if  he  does  sOy 
it  is  certain  that  there  will  be  no  injustice  done  to  any  one.^ 

He  will  do  no  injustice  to  his  holy  kingdom,  by  any  whom 
he  saves.  He  will  bring  none  to  heaven,  who  are  not  holy 
and  prepared  for  heaven.  He  will  bring  none  there,  in  any 
way  not  consistent  with  his  perfections,  and  the  best  good  of 
his  kingdom  :  none,  in  any  way  but  that  prescribed  in  the 
Gospel,  the  way  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  of  repentance  for  sin, 
and  of  good  works  as  the  constituted  fruit  and  evidence  of 
faith. 

Earthly  monarchs  have  their  favorites,  whom,  if  guilty  of 
a  violation  of  the  laws,  they  will,  often,  interpose  to  save, 
although  the  welfare  of  the  kingdom  requires  their  punish- 
ment. But  God  has  no  such  favorites  :  he  is  no  respecter  of 
persons  :  he  spared  not  the  angels  :  and  upon  the  earth, 
distinctions  of  intellect,  or  wealth,  or  honor,  will  have  no 
effect ;  he  only  that  believeth,  shall  be  saved. 

The  great  and  the  learned,  shall  not  be  obtruded  upon 
heaven  without  holiness,  because  they  are  great  or  learned  ; 
and  the  humble  and  contrite,  shall  not  be  excluded,  because 
they  are  poor,  or  ignorant,  or  obscure.  God  has  provided  a 
way  for  all  men  to  return  to  him.  He  has  opened  the  door 
of  their  prison,  and  set  open  before  them  a  door  of  admission 
into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son ;  and  commanded,  and 
entreated  them  to  abandon  their  dreary  abode,  and  come  into 
the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.  But  all,  with  one 
consent,  refuse  to  comply.  Each  prefers  his  own  loathsome 
dwelling,  to  the  building  of  God,  and  chooses,  steadfastly, 
the  darkness  of  his  own  dungeon,  to  the  light  of  God's  king- 
dom. But,  as  God  has  determined  that  the  redemption  of 
his  Son  shall  not  be  unavailing  through  human  obstinacy;  so 
he  hath  chosen,  in  Christ,  multitudes  wdiich  no  man  can 
number,  that  they  should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before 
him  in  love.  And,  in  bringing  these  sons  and  daughters  to 
glory,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  and  belief  of  the 
truth,  he  will  introduce  not  one,  whom  all  the  inhabitants  of 


13 

heaven  will  not  hail  joyfully,  as  the  companion  of  their  glory. 
And  if  God  does  in  the  earth  just  as  he  pleases,  he  will  make 
willing,  and  obedient,  and  bring  to  heaven,  just  those  persons 
who  it  was  most  desirable  should  come.  And  he  will  bring 
just  as  many  obstinate  rebels  to  abandon  their  prison,  and 
enter  cheerfully  his  kingdom,  as  infinite  wisdom,  goodness, 
and  mercy,  sees  fit  and  desires.  He  will  not  mar  his  glory, 
or  the  happiness  of  his  kingdom,  by  bringing  in  too  many, 
nor  by  shutting  out  too  many.  His  redeemed  kingdom,  as  to 
the  number  and  the  persons  who  compose  it,  and  the  happi- 
ness included  in  it,  will  be  such  as  shall  be  wholly  satisfactory 
to  God,  and  to  every  subject  of  his  kingdom. 

And  if  God  governs  according  to  his  pleasure,  he  will  do 
no  injustice  to  his  impenitent  enemies.  He  will  send  to 
misery,  no  harmless  animals  without  souls  ;  no  mere  ma- 
chines :  none  who  have  done,  or  even  attempted  to  do,  as 
well  as  they  could.  He  will  leave  to  walk  in  their  own  way, 
none  who  do  not  deserve  to  be  left ;  and  punish  none  for 
walking  in  it,  who  did  not  walk  therein  knowingly,  delibe- 
rately, and  with  wilful  obstinacy.  He  will  give  up  to  death 
none  who  did  not  choose  death,  and  choose  it  with  as  entire 
freedom  as  himself  chooses  holiness ;  and  who  did  not 
deserve  eternal  punishment,  as  truly  as  himself  deserves 
eternal  praise.  He  will  send  to  hell  none  who  are  not  oppos- 
ed to  him,  and  to  holiness,  and  to  heaven.  None  who  are 
not,  by  voluntary  sin  and  rebellion,  unfitted  for  heaven  and 
fitted  for  destruction,  as  eminently  as  saints  are  prepared  for 
glory.  He  w'ill  consign  to  perdition  no  poor,  feeble,  inoffen- 
sive beings,  sacrificing  one  innocent  creature  to  increase  the 
happiness  of  another.  He  will  cause  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked  to  illustrate  his  glory,  and  thus,  indirectly,  to  promote 
the  happiness  of  heaven.  But  God  will  not  illumine  heaven 
with  his  glory,  and  fill  it  with  praise,  by  sacrificing  helpless, 
unoffending  creatures  to  eternal  torment ;  nor  will  he  doom  to 
hell,  one  whom  he  will  not  convince  also,  that  he  deserves  to 

go  thither.     The  justice  of  God,  in  the  condemnation  of  the 
3 


14 

impenitent,  will  be   as  unquestionable,  as  his  infinite  mercy 
will  be,  in  the  salvation  of  the  redeemed. 

If  the  will  of  God  is  done  on  earth,  among  men,  there  will 
be  no  more  injustice  done  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  than 
there  is  done  to  the  blessed  .in  heaven.  Was  it  ever  known 
— Did  any  ever  complain — Was  it  ever  conceived,  that  God 
was  a  tyrant,  in  heaven  f  Why  then  should  we  question  the 
justice  of  his  government  on  earth  ?  Is  he  not  the  same  God 
below,  as  above  ?  Are  not  all  his  attributes  equally  employ- 
ed .''  Does  he  not  govern  for  the  same  end,  and  will  not  his 
government  below  conspire  to  promote  the  same  joyful  end, 
as  his  government  above  ? 

Finally />Jt  is  greatly  to  be  desired,  that  God  should  govern 
the  world  according  to  his  pleasure,  because  his  own  injinite 
blessedness,  as  welT  as  the  happiness  of  his  kingdom,  depends 
upon  his  working  all  things  according  to  the  counsel  of  his 
own  will.  ^ 

Could  the  Almighty  be  prevented  from  expressing  the 
benevolence  of  his  nature,  according  to  his  purposes,  his 
present  boundless  blessedness  would  become  the  pain  of 
unsratified  desire.  God  is  love,  and  his  happiness  consists 
in  the  exercise  and  expression  of  it,  according  to  his  own 
eternal  purpose,  which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the 
world  began.  It  is  therefore  declared,  "  The  Lord  hath 
made  ail  things  for  himself,"  that  is,  to  express  and  gratify 
his  infinite  benevolence.  The  moral  excellence  of  God  does 
not  consist  in  quiescent  love,  but  in  love  active,  bursting  forth 
and  abounding.  Nor  does  the  divine  happiness  arise  from  the 
contemplation  of  idle  perfections  ;  but  from  perfections,  which 
comprehend  boundless  capacity  and  activity  to  do  good. 

From  what  has  been  said,  we  may  be  led  to  contemplate 
with  satisfaction,  the  infinite  blessedness  of  God. 

God  is  love  !  This  is  a  disposition,  of  all  others,  the  most 
happy  in  its  own  nature.  He  is  perfect  in  love  ;  there  is, 
therefore,  in  his  happiness  no  alloy.  His  love  is  infinite  ;  and, 


15 

of  course,  his  blessedness  is  unbounded.  \(  the  httle  holiness 
existing  in  good  men,  though  balanced  by  remaining  sin, 
occasions,  at  times,  unutterable  joy  ;  how  blessed  must  God 
be,  who  is  perfectly  and  infinitely  holy  ?^  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered, also,  that  the  benevolence  of  God  is,  at  all  times, 
perfectly  gratified.  The  universe  which  God  has  created 
and  upholds,  including  what  he  has  done,  and  what  he  will 
yet  do,  will  be  brought  into  a  condition  which  will  satisfy 
his  infinite  benevolence.  The  great  plan  of  government 
which  God  has  chosen,  and  which  his  power  and  wisdom  will 
execute,  will  embrace  as  much  good  as  is  in  the  nature  of 
things  possible.  He  is  not,  like  erring  man,  straitened  or 
perplexed,  through  lack  of  knowledge  or  power.  There  is, 
in  his  plan,  no  defect,  and  in  its  Execution,  no  failure.  God, 
therefore,  is  infinitely  happy,  in  his  holiness,  and  in  the  ex- 
pression of  it  w^hich  it  pleases  him  to  make. 
^^The  revolt  of  angels,  jhe  fall  of  man,  and  the  miseries  of 
sin,  do  not,  for  a  moment,  interrupt  the  blessedness  of  God. 
They  were  not,  to  him,  unexpected  events,  starting  up  sud- 
denly, while  the  Watchman  of  Israel  slumbered.  They  were 
foreseen  by  God,  as  clearly  as  any  other  events  of  his  govern- 
ment, and  have  occasioned  neither  perplexity  nor  dismay. 
With  infinite  complacency,  he  beholds  still,  his  unshaken 
counsels,  and  with  almighty  hand,  rolls  on  his  undisturbed 
decrees.  Surrounded  by  unnumbered  millions,  created  by 
his  hand,  and  upheld  by  his  power,  and  made  happy  in  the 
contemplation  of  his  glory,  he  shines  forth,  God  over  all 
blessed  forever.  VAVhat  an  object  of  joyful  contemplation 
then,  is  the  blessedness  of  God  !  It  is  infinite  :  his  boundless 
capacity  is  full.  It  is  eternal :  he  is  God  blessed  forever. 
The  happiness  of  the  created  universe  is  but  a  drop,  a  drop 
to  the  mighty  ocean  of  divine  enjoyment.  How  delightful  s 
the  tiiought,  that  in  God  there  is  such  an  immensity  of  joy, 
beyond  the  reach  of  vicissitude.  When  we  look  around  us 
below,  a  melancholy  sensation  pervades  the  mind.  What 
miserable  creatures  !     W^hat  a  wretched  world  I     But  when, 


16 

from  this  scene  of  darkness  and  misery,  we  look  up  to  the 
throne  of  God,  and  behold  him,  high  above  the  darkness  and 
the  miseries  of  sin,  dwelling  in  light  inaccessible  and  full  of 
glory,  the  prospect  brightens.  If  a  few  rebels,  who  refuse  to 
love  him  and  participate  in  his  munificence,  are  groping  in 
darkness  on  his  footstool,  God  is  light,  and  in  him  there  is  no 
darkness  at  all.    / 

Secondly.  How  vast  may  we  conceive  to  be  the  sum  of 
created  good  which  is  comprehended  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

It  will  satisfy  infinite  benevolence.  If  all  the  good  might 
exist,  which  angels  and  men  could  conceive,  it  would  be 
nothing,  compared  with  the  enjoyment  which  God  will 
actually  communicate  and  uphold.  The  happiness  which 
God  will  communicate  will'  be  worthy  of  himself.  It  will 
illustrate,  so  far  as  a  created  system  can  illustrate,  the  power, 
and  wisdom,  and  goodness,  of  God.  How  vast  and  blessed 
then,  must  that  kingdom  be,  which  God  erects  as  an  expres- 
sion of  his  glory,  and  in  which  he  dwells  and  reigns,  to  prove 
by  experiment,  his  capacity  to  govern  and  to  bless  the 
universe. 

This  kingdom  of  God,  so  vast  and  so  full  of  joy,  is  still 
destined  to  increase.  God  will  never  be  idle.  He  will 
never  have  communicated,  actually,  infinite  blessedness. 
His  work  will  continue  to  grow  under  his  hand,  and  his 
kingdom  to  expand  around  him  in  capacity  and  joy.  O  how 
great  is  God  !  How  glorious  will  his  works  be  !  A  fountain, 
ever  flowing,  and  never  exhausted,  pouring  out  streams  of 
blessedness  to  fill  unnumbered  fountains  around  him,  each  to 
eternity  becoming  more  capacious,  and  yet  the  whole  bearing 
no  proportion  to  the  uncreated  source  ! 

It  seems  to  be  the  imagination  of  some,  that  the  kingdom 
of  darkness  will  be  as  populous  and  as  vast,  as  the  kingdom 
of  light,  and  that  happiness  and  misery,  of  equal  dimensions, 
will  expand,  side  by  side,  to  all  eternity.  But,  blessed  be 
God,  it  is  a  mere  imagination,  totally  unsupported  by  reason 
or  revelation.     Who  ever  heard    of  a  prison  that  occupied 


17/ 

one  half  of  the  territories  of  a  kingdom  ;  and  who  can  believe 
that  the  universe,  which  was  called  into  being,  and  is  up- 
held and  governed,  to  express  the  goodness  of  God,  will 
contain  as  much  misery  as  happiness  ?  How  could  the 
government  of  God  be  celebrated  with  such  raptures  in 
heaven,  if  it  filled  with  dismay  and  ruin  half  the  universe  ! 
How  vast  soever,  therefore,  the  kingdom  of  darkness  may  be 
in  itself  considered,  it  is  certainly  nothing  but  the  prison  of 
the  universe,  and  small,  compared  to  the  realms  of  light  and 
glory.  The  misery  of  that  unholy  community,  whose  exile 
from  heaven  is  as  voluntary  as  it  is  just,  when  the  eye  is  fixed 
upon  that  only,  fills  the  soul  with  trembhng  ;  but  when,  from 
this  dreadful  exhibition  of  sin,  and  display  of  justice,  we 
raise  the  adoring  eye  to  God,  reigning  throughout  his  bound- 
less dominions,  and  rejoicing  in  their  joy,  the  world  of  misery 
shrinks  to  a  point,  and  the  wailings  of  the  damned  die  away, 
and  are  lost  in  the  song  of  praise.* 

Thirdly.     From  what  has  been  said,  we  may  perceive 
wherein  consists  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin. 

vT'he  evil  of  sin  does  not  consist  in  overt  acts  merely,  nor\ 
in  the  misery  which  it  actually  occasions  in  time.  The  evil 
of  sin  is  to  be  sought  in  its  own  nature  ;  and  is  to  be  estimat- 
ed, by  the  effects  it  would  produce,  if  armed  with  power  to 
express  itself.  7  Considered  in  this  point  of  view,  it  is  a  de- 
liberate, total,  and  obstinate  dissent  from  the  government  of 
God.  As  a  temper  of  mind,  it  is  enmity  against  God,  and 
hostility  to  his  law  and  his  entire  government.  God  is  the 
soul  of  his  kingdom,  and  it  is  his  purpose  to  make  the  happi- 
ness of  every  member  of  that  kingdom  to  consist  in  love  to 

*  I  am  aware  that  Calvinists  are  represented  as  believing',  and  teaching-,  the 
monstrous  doctrine  that  infants  are  damned,  and  that  hell  is  doubtless  paved  with 
their  bones.  But  having  passed  the  age  of  fifty,  and  been  conversant  for  thirty  years  ' 
with  the  most  approved  Calvinistic  writers,  and  personally  acquainted  with  many  of 
the  most  distinguished  Calvinistic  divines  in  New-England,  and  in  the  middle  and 
southern  and  western  States,  I  must  say,  that  I  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  any 
book  which  contained  such  a  sentiment,  nor  a  man,  minister  or  layman,  who 
believed  or  taught  it.  And  I  feel  authorised  to  say.  that  Calvinists,  as  a  body,  are  £« 
far  from  teachmg  the  doctrine  of  infant  damnation,  as  any  of  those  who  falsely 
accuse  them.  And  I  would  earnestly  and  affectionately  recommend  to  all  persons, 
who  have  been  accustomed  to  propagate  this  slander,  that  they  commit  to  memory, 
without  delay,  the  ninth  commandment,  which  is,  "  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false-witness 
against  thy  neighbor." — Note  to  the  Seventh  Edition,  printed  in  1827.  / 


18 

him,  and  to  his  holy  family.  ;  Sin  rejects  God  as  an  object 
of  affection,  and  sets  up  a  se|)arate,  and  opposite,  and  un- 
worthy interest.  The  temper  of  sin,  and  the  temper  of  God, 
are  opposite.  The  plans  of  sin,  and  the  plans  of  God,  are 
opposite.  If  the  purposes  of  sin  go  into  operation,  the  pur- 
poses of  God  are  defeated.  I  If  sin  succeeds,  the  kingdom 
of  God  fails.  And,  that  sin  does  not  succeed,  is  owing  to 
nothing  but  want  of  power  and  skill.  If  its  mahgnant  nature, 
as  it  exists  in  men  and  devils,  could  be  fully  expressed  in  ac- 
tion, it  would  dethrone  the  God  of  heaven,  abolish  his  law, 
overturn  his  government,  extinguish  the  joy  of  God  and  of 
the  universe,  and  fill  the  mighty  void  with  everlasting  wo. 
It  is  a  wandering  star,  which  will  not  obey  the  impulse  of 
the  sun,  and  which,  if  able,  would  blot  out  the  sun,  and 
leave  to  blackness  of  darkness  every  other  luminary,  that 
it  miglit  roll  above  the  mighty  ruin,  eclipsed  by  no  superior 
lustre. 

Such  is  the  selfish,  malignant  enmity  to  God,  which  reigns 
in  the  hearts  of  the  children  of  disobedience.  Such,  by 
nature,  is  that  carnal  mind,  which  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of 
God,  neither  indeed  can  be.  Nothing  but  its  own  imbecility, 
prevents  it  from  being  an  evil  as  great,  in  fact,  as  it  is  in 
nature  and  tendency.  Let  benevolence  abandon  the  throne 
of  the  universe,  and  let  sin  ascend  and  take  possession  of  the 
treasures  of  knowledge  and  power,  and  reign  to  express  its 
own  nature  in  action,  as  God  reigns  to  express  his  love,  and 
it  would  soon  dismay  the  universe  with  demonstrations  of  its 
evil  nature. 

Fourthly.  What  has  been  said  concerning  the  character 
and  government  of  God,  may  enable  us  to  perceive  wherein 
consists  the  glory  of  the  Gospel. 

The  Gospel  is  not,  as  some  have  imagined,  an  expedient  to 
set  aside  a  holy,  just,  and  good  law,  in  order  to  substitute  an 
inferior  one,  brought  down  more  nearly  to  the  depraved  in- 
clinations of  men.  God  did  not  send  his  Son,  to  betray  his 
government,  and  compromise  with  rebels,  by  repealing  the 


19 

law  which  offended  them.  He  sent  his  Son,  to  vindicate  and 
to  establish  this  law,  to  redeem  mankind  from  the  curse,  and 
to  bring  them  back  to  the  obedience  of  the  same  law  from 
which  they  had  revolted. 

It  is  the  glory  of  the  Gospel  that  it  upholds  the  moral 
law  and  moral  government  of  God,  and  brings  back  and  re- 
conciles to  his  holy  dominion,  millions  and  millions  of  apostate 
creatures. 

Fifthly.  Those  who  are  opposed  to  the  decrees  of  God, 
and  to  his  sovereignty  as  displayed  in  the  salvation  of  sinners, 
are  enemies  to  God.* 

They  are  unwilling  that  his  will  should  be  done  in  earth  as 
it  is  in  heaven,  for  the  decrees  of  God  are  nothing  but  his 
choice,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  he  will  govern  his  own 
kingdom.  He  did  not  enter  upon  his  government  to  learn 
wisdom  by  experience.  Before  they  were  yet  formed,  his 
vast  dominion  lay  open  to  his  view,  and  before  he  took  the 
reins  of  created  empire,  he  saw  in  what  manner  it  became 
him  to  govern.  His  ways  are  everlasting.  Known  unto 
God,  are  all  his  works  from  the  beginning.  To  be  opposed 
to  the  decrees  of  God,  therefore,  is  to  be  unwilling  that  God 
should  have  any  choice  concerning  the  government  of  the 
world.  And  can  those  be  willing  that  God  should  govern 
the  world  entirely  according  to  his  pleasure,  who  object  to 
his  having  any  pleasure  upon  the  subject  ?  To  object  to  the 
choice  of  God,  with  respect  to  the  management  of  the  world, 
because  it  is  eternal,  is  to  object  to  the  existence  of  God. 
A  God  of  eternal  knowledge,  without  an  eternal  will  or 
choice,  would  be  a  God  without  moral  character. 

To  suppose  that  God  did  not  know  what  events  would 
exist  in  his  kingdom,  is  to  divest  him  of  omniscience.  To 
suppose  that  he  did  know,  and  did  not  care,  had  no  choice, 
no  purpose,  is  to  blot   out  his  benevolence,  to   nullify  his 

*  I  do  not  say  that  all  who  speak  ag-ainst  the  universal  government  of  God,  and  his 
holy  sovereignly  in  the  salvation  of  men,  are  in  heart  opposed  to  these  precious 
doctrines.  God  is  their  Judge,  and  knows  perfectly  when  bitterness  and  sneer  is  the 
result  of  real  enmity,  and  wiien  also,  of  ignorance,  or  prejudice,  or  simple  misap- 
prehension. 


20 

wisdom,  And  convert  his  power  into  infinite  indolence.  To 
suppose  that  he  did  know,  and  choose,  and  decree,  and  that 
events  do  not  accord  with  his  purposes,  is  to  suppose  that 
God  has  made  a  world  which  he  cannot  govern  :  has  under- 
taken a  work  too  vast :  has  begun  to  build,  but  is  not  able  to 
finish.  But  to  suppose  that  God  did,  from  the  beginning, 
behold  all  things  open  and  naked  before  him,  and  that  he  did 
choose,  with  unerring  w'isdom  and  infinite  goodness,  how  to 
govern  his  empire,  and  yet,  to  find  a  heart,  and  head,  and 
tongue,  continually  employed  in  opposing  this  great  and 
blessed  truth,  is  demonstration  of  enmity  to  God  and  his 
government. 

To  object  to  the  choice  of  God  because  it  is  immutable,  is 
to  cavil  against  that  which  constitutes  its  consummating 
excellence.  Caprice  is  a  most  alarming  feature  in  a  bad 
government,  but  in  a  government  absolutely  perfect,  none, 
surely,  can  object  to  its  immutability  but  those  who,  if  able, 
would  alter  it  for  the  worse. 

To  say,  that  if  God  always  knew  how  to  govern  so  as  to 
display  his  glory,  and  bless  his  kingdom,  and  always  chooses 
thus  to  govern,  there  can  be,  therefore,  no  accountable 
agency  in  the  conduct  of  his  creatures,  is  to  deny  the  possi- 
bility of  a  moral  government,  to  contradict  the  express  testi- 
mony of  God,  and  this,  too,  at  the  expense  of  common  sense, 
and  the  actual  experience  of  every  subject  of  his  moral  gov- 
ernment on  earth. 

Sixthly.  From  the  character  of  God  and  the  nature  of  his 
government,  as  explained  in  this  discourse,  may  be  inferred 
the  nature  and  necessity  of  unconditional  submission  to  God. 

Unconditional  submission  is  an  entire  surrender  of  the  soul 
to  God,  to  be  disposed  of  according  to  his  pleasure,  occa- 
sioned by  confidence  in  his  character  as  God. 

There  are  many  who  would  trust  the  Almighty  to  regulate 
the  rolling  of  worlds,  and  to  rule  in  the  armies  of  heaven,  just 
as  he  pleases  ;  and  devils  they  would  consign  to  his  disposal, 
without  the  least  hesitation  ;   and   their  own  nation,  if  they 


21 

were  sure  that  God  would  dispose  of  it  according  to  their 
pleasure  :  even  their  own  temporal  concerns  they  would  risk 
in  the  hands  of  God,  could  they  know  that  all  things  would 
work  together  for  their  good  :  their  souls,  also,  they  would 
cheerfully  trust  to  his  disposal,  for  the  world  to  come,  if  God 
would  stipulate,  at  all  events,  to  make  them  happy. 

And  to  what  does  all  this  amount  ?  Truly,  that  they  care 
much  about  their  own  happiness,  and  their  own  will,  but 
nothing  at  all  about  the  will  of  God,  and  the  welfare  of  his 
kingdom.  He  may  decree,  and  execute  his  decrees,  in 
heaven,  and  may  turn  its  inhabitants  into  machines,  or  uphold 
their  freedom  as  he  pleases  ;  and  apostate  spirits  are  relin- 
quished to  their  doom,  wliether  just  or  unjust.  It  is  only 
when  the  government  of  God  descends  to  particulars,  and 
draws  near  and  enters  their  own  selfish  inclosures,  and  claims 
a  right  to  dispose  of  them,  and  extends  its  influence  to  the 
unseen  world,  that  selfishness  and  fear  take  the  alarm.  Has 
God  determined  how  to  dispose  of  my  soul  ?  Ah  !  that  alters 
the  case.  If  he  can,  consistently  with  freedom,  govern 
angels  and  devils  and  nations,  how  can  he  govern  individuals  ? 
How  can  he  dispose  of  me  according  to  his  eternal  purpose, 
and  I  be  free  ?  Here  reason,  all-penetrating,  and  all-com- 
prehensive, becomes  weak  ;  the  clouds  begin  to  collect,  and 
the  understanding,  veiled  by  the  darkness  of  the  heart,  "  can 
find  no  end,  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

But  if  God  has  purposes  of  mercy  in  reserve  for  the  sinner, 

he  is  convinced  at  length  of  his  sin,  and  finds  himself  in  an 

evil  case.    He  reforms,  prays,  weeps,  resolves,  and  re-resolves, 

regardless  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  and   intent  only  to 

establish  a  righteousness  of  his  own.     But  through  all  his 

windings,  sin   cleaves  to  him,  and  the  law,  with  its  fearful 

curse,  pursues  him.     Whither  shall  he  flee  ?     What  shall  he 

do  .''     A  rebel  heart,  that  will  not  bow,  fills  him  with  despair. 

An  angry  God,  who  will  not  clear  the  guilty,  fills  him  with 

terror.     His   strength   is  gone,  his  resources  fail,  his  mouth 

is   stopped.     With  restless  anxietv,  or  wild  amazement,  he 
4 


22 

surveys  the  gloomy  prospect.  At  length,  amidst  the  wander- 
ings of  despair,  the  character  of  God  meets  his  eye.  It  is 
new,  it  is  amiable,  and  full  of  glory.  Forgetful  of  danger,  he 
turns  aside  to  behold  this  great  sight,  and  while  he  gazes, 
new  affections  awake  in  his  soul,  inspiring  new  confidence  in 
God,  and  in  his  holy  government.  Now,  God  appears  quali- 
fied to  govern,  and  now,  he  is  willing  that  he  should  govern, 
and  willing  himself  to  be  in  the  hands  of  God,  to  be  disposed 
of  according  to  his  pleasure.  What  is  the  occasion  of  this 
change  ?  Has  the  divine  character  changed  ?  There  is  no 
variableness  with  God.  Did  he  then  misapprehend  the 
divine  character  ?  Was  all  this  glory  visible  before  ?  Or 
has  a  revelation  of  new  truth  been  granted  ?  There  has  been 
no  new  revelation.  The  character  now  admired,  is  the  same 
which  just  before  appeared  so  gloomy  and  terrible.  What 
then,  has  produced  this  alteration  ?  Has  a  vision  of  angels 
appeared,  to  announce  that  God  is  reconciled  ?  Has  some 
sudden  light  burst  upon  him,  in  token  of  forgiveness  f  Has 
Christ  been  seen  upon  the  cross,  beckoning  the  sinner  to  come 
to  him  ?  Has  heaven  been  thrown  open  to  his  admiring 
eyes  ?  Have  enrapturing  sounds  of  music  stolen  upon  the 
ear,  to  entrance  the  soul  ?  Has  some  text  of  scripture  been 
sent  to  whisper  that  his  sins  are  forgiven,  though  no  repent- 
ance, nor  faith,  nor  love,  has  dawned  in  his  soul  ?  And  does 
he  now  submit,  because  God  has  given  him  assurance  of 
personal  safety  ?  None  of  these.  Considerations  of  personal 
safety,  are,  at  the  time,  out  of  the  question.  It  is  the  uncre- 
ated, essential  excellence  of  God,  sliining  in  upon  the  heart, 
which  chains  the  attention,  fixes  the  adoring  eye,  and  fills  the 
soul  with  love,  and  peace,  and  joy  ;  and  the  act  of  submission 
is  past,  before  the'  subject  begins  to  reflect  upon  his  altered 
views,  with  dawning  hope  of  personal  redemption.* 

*  I  pretend  not  to  exhibit,  in  tlie  above  outline  of  experience,  all  the  varieties  of 
exercise  through  which  the  convinced  pass;  nor  to  intimate,  that  every  person  is 
attentive  always  to  interpret  ibe  language  of  his  heart,  or  able,  in  every  instance,  to 
specify  the  exact  time  when  he  ceased  to  contend,  and  gave  up  the  power  and 
dominion  unto  God.  The  act  of  submission  is  doubtless,  instantaneous,  and  in  nature 
such  as  has  been  described,  though  the  evidence  of  the  change,  to  the  subject  of  it, 
may  be  gradual. 


23 

Tlie  change  produced  tlien,  is  the  effect  of  Ijencvolcnce, 
raising  the  affections  of  the  soul  from  the  world,  and  rest- 
ing them  upon  God.  Holiness  is  now  most  ardently  loved. 
This  is  seen  to  dwell  in  God  and  his  kingdom,  and  to 
be  upheld  and  perfected  by  his  moral  government.  It  is 
the  treasure  of  the  soul,  and  all  the  attributes  of  God  stand 
pledged  to  protect  it.  The  solicitude,  therefore,  is  not, 
merely  what  will  become  of  me,  but  what,  O  Lord,  will 
become  of  thy  glory,  and  the  glory  of  thy  kingdom  ?  And 
in  the  character  of  God,  these  inquiries  are  satisfactorily 
answered.  If  God  be  glorified,  and  his  kingdom  upheld  and 
made  happy,  the  soul  is  satisfied.  There  is  nothing  else  to 
be  anxious  about ;  for  individual  happiness  is  included  in  the 
general  good,  as  the  drop  is  included  in  the  ocean. 

It  is  by  surrounding  himself  with  benevolent  intelligences, 
who  find  all  their  joy  in  love  to  himself  and  his  kingdom,  and 
by  manifesting  himself  to  them,  that  God  upholds  the  happi- 
ness of  heaven.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God,  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,  is  the  sweet  attracting 
power,  that  draws  the  holy  universe  to  God,  and  unites  to 
each  other,  every  member  of  his  great  family.  But  men  have 
rejected  God  and  his  kingdom,  as  objects  of  supreme  love, 
and  contracted  and  lowered  down  their  affections,  to  rest 
solely  on  selfish  and  worldly  objects,  so  that  in  every  sinner, 
we  behold  God  and  his  kingdom  set  at  nought,  and  self  set 
up,  and  loved,  and  sought,  instead  of  God,  and  the  universal 
good. 

Hence  the  wicked  find  no  consolation,  and  can  see  no 
security,  in  the  character  of  God,  or  in  the  rectitude  of  his 
government,  because  these  secure  the  happiness  of  those 
only  who  are  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  multiplication  of 
assurances,  therefore,  that  God  will  do  right,  will  glorify  him- 
self, will  bless  his  holy  family,  affords  no  consolation,  inspires 
no  confidence,  because  it  insures  that  which  they  care  nothing 
about,  and  leaves  awfully  exposed  the  only  thing  which  they 
do  care  about. 


24 

The  character  of  God  Insures  security  and  happiness  to  the 
repenting  sinner  in  his  kingdom,  but  it  affords  no  security,  no 
happiness,  to  the  impenitent  sinner,  out  of  his  kingdom,  and 
this  is  the  reason  why  the  wicked  are  so  much  afraid  of  God. 
It  is  not  because  they  really  think  that  God  will  act  unworthy 
of  himself;  they  do  not  suspect  the  rectitude  of  his  govern- 
ment. They  do  not  question,  whether  God  will  glorify  him- 
self, and  surround  himself  with  a  joyful,  holy  kingdom.  The 
sole  difficulty  is,  that  the  character  of  God  affords  no  guaran- 
tee of  safety  and  happiness,  to  those  who  are  out  of  his  king- 
dom, and  in  hostile  array  against  it.  Now  the  only  remedy 
which  God  proposes,  and  wliich  can  be  proposed,  is,  for  the 
sinner  to  give  up  himself,  as  the  object  of  supreme  love,  and 
transfer  his  perverted  affections  to  God,  their  proper  object. 
This  the  sinner  refuses  to  do.  He  persists  in  separating  him- 
self from  God,  and  still  demands  that  God  should  give  him 
some  pledge  of  safety,  not  in  his  kingdom,  but  while  he  con- 
tinues in  opposition  to  it,  and  lives  in  voluntary  exile.  With 
such  desires,  God  never  complies.  All  his  creatures,  who  will 
place  their  affections  on  him,  and  seek  happiness  in  the  way 
which  he  provides,  shall  be  happy.  They  shall  find  in  God, 
all  that  immortal  minds  can  desire.  But  God  will  not  extend 
his  favors  beyond  the  limits  of  his  holy  kingdom.  If  tiie 
wicked,  ^^ho  have  departed  from  God,  will  not,  by  Jesus 
Christ,  return  to  him,  they  must  die.  Benevolence  is  the 
only  disposition  capable  of  happiness,  and  selfishness  is  inhe- 
rent misery. 

But  raise  your  immortal  desires,  and  fix  them  upon  God, 
and  let  your  contracted  souls  expand  with  benevolent  affec- 
tions to  his  holy  kingdom,  and  you  have,  in  the  character  of 
God,  infinite  security.  Is  your  joy  inspired  by  the  per- 
fections of  God  .^  They  are  immutable  and  eternal.  Does 
your  happiness  arise  from  the  manifestation  of  his  glory .'' 
Behold,  he  is  rearing  a  kingdom,  in  which  his  glory  is  to 
shine  as  the  sun  forever.  All  things  are  working  together 
for  your  good,  because  they  are  all   contributing  to  brighten 


25 

that  glory  of  God,  in  which  your  good  consists.  Do  you 
rejoice  in  the  happiness  of  his  kingdom  ?  It  is  everlasting. 
Do  you  confide  in  the  government  of  God,  because  in  his  per- 
fections you  behold  a  j)erfect  security  of  its  joyful  results  ? 
Your  confidence  is  well  placed.  Th.e  counsel  of  God  shall 
stand.  His  kingdom  shall  rise  majestic  around  him,  and 
shout  and  rejoice  in  the  blaze  of  his  glory  forever. 

Seventhly.  The  sinner  who  dies  in  his  sins,  is  the  voluntary 
cause  of  his  own  destruction. 

The  decrees  of  God  do  not  comjiel  him  to  sin,  and  election, 
when  he  has  sinned,  does  not  shut  him  out  of  heaven.  He  is 
voluntary  in  his  departure  from  God,  he  is  voluntary  in  loving 
the  creature  more  than  God,  and  he  is  voluntary  in  refusing 
to  return  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ.  A  complete  atonement 
has  been  made  for  all  his  sins,  and  a  free  pardon  is  offered, 
if  he  will  repent.  But  he  will  not  repent.  Christ  is  able  and 
willing  to  save  him  if  he  will  come  to  him,  but  he  will  not 
come.  Aversion  to  God  and  his  government  caused  his 
departure,  and  the  same  aversion  prevents  his  return  by  Jesus 
Christ.  God  has  built  an  eternal  prison,  and  the  sinner  fits 
himself  for  it,  and  goes  there  of  his  own  accord,  in  spite  of 
all  the  restraints  which  God  has  laid  upon  him,  and  all  the 
obstructions  by  which  he  has  blocked  up  the  way  to  ruin. 
God  has  done  every  thing,  but  just  to  exert  almighty  power, 
yet  he  will  not  turn.  He  will  die  !  !  He  shuts  his  eyes  ;  he 
stops  his  ears  ;  and  casts  behind  him  Bibles,  and  Sabbaths, 
and  prayers,  and  exhortations,  and  entreaties  ;  he  treads 
under  foot  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  and  does  despite  to  the 
Spirit  of  grace  ;  and,  through  a  host  of  opposing  means,  and 
while  God,  and  angels,  and  men,  are  entreating  him  to  stop, 
he  forces  his  way  down  to  ruin. 

As  the  conclusion  of  this  discourse,  I  would  therefore  ex- 
postulate with  those  of  you,  who,  to  this  time,  have  persisted 
in  your  alienation  from  God.  As  an  ambassador  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  as  though  God  by  me  did  intreat,  I  pray  you, 
in  Christ's  stead,   be   ye  reconciled   to    God.       What    de- 


26 

feet  is  there  in  his  character,  that  you  should  not  love  him  ? 
What  odious  attribute  to  justify  aversion  ?  What  iniquity  in 
his  law  to  occasion  revolt  ?  What  tyranny  in  his  government 
to  justify  insurrection  ?  Why  have  you  rebelled  ?  And, 
seeing  you  may  return,  why  do  you  refuse  to  return  ?  What 
cause  have  you  to  distrust  and  oppose  the  government  of 
God  ?  Why  are  you  displeased  that  he  should  display  his 
power,  and  wisdom,  and  goodness,  and  justice,  and  mercy, 
in  a  plan  of  government  known  and  approved  from  eternity  ? 
What  difference  does  it  make  to  you  whether  God  chose  from 
eternity  how  to  govern,  or  chooses  from  day  to  day  ?  Would 
infinite  wisdom  and  goodness  choose,  at  one  time,  what  they 
would  reject  at  another  ?  Would  not  the  daily  counsels  of 
God  correspond  exactly  with  his  eternal  purpose  f  What 
right  have  you  to  dictate  to  the  Almighty,  or  to  say  to  him, 
what  doest  thou  ?  You  know  that  he  will  glorify  himself  and 
bless  his  holy  kingdom,  and  will  render  to  you,  even  should 
he  destroy  you,  perfect  justice  according  to  your  deeds. 
Why  then  are  you  so  restless  in  his  hands  ?  Why  so  jealous 
and  fearful,  that  if  a  door  of  escape  were  opened,  you  would 
abandon  forever  his  holy  dominion  ?  Did  you  ever  hear  that 
the  Almighty  erred  in  judgment  ?  Do  the  angels  of  heaven 
alarm  you  with  complainings  ?  Can  you  adduce  an  instance 
in  which  God  has  done  you  injustice  ?  Whence,  then,  this 
opposition  ?  But  you  say  (I  know  what  is  in  your  hearts)  '  I 
am  afraid  God  has  determined  to  send  me  to  hell.'  And  if 
he  has,  do  you  not  think  you  will  deserve  to  be  sent  thither  i* 
If  he  has,  do  you  expect  to  avert  the  calamity  by  contending 
with  your  Maker  ?  Would  you  turn  back  the  arm  of  his 
power  ?  Would  you  wrest  the  sceptre  from  his  hand  ? 
Would  you  tarnish  the  glory  of  his  name,  and  extinguish  the 
joy  of  his  kingdom,  to  rescue  yourself  from  deserved  punish- 
ment ? 

But  '  is  it  my  duty  to  be  willing  to  be  damned  .^'  It  is  your 
duty  to  love  the  Lord  your  God  whh  all  your  heart,  and  soul, 
and  mind,  and  strength,  and  to  confide  in  his  government. 


27 

and  to  be  willing  that  he  should  dispose  of  you  forever,  just 
as  he  pleases.  Do  you  think  such  submission  synonymous 
with  damnation  ?  It  is  as  different  as  heaven  is  from  hell. 
It  is  the  temper  of  heaven,  and  }our  present  rebellious 
temper  is  the  temper  of  those  who  are  lost.  But  '  is  it  my 
duty  to  be  wilHng  to  be  a  sinner,  and  go  to  hell,  and  be  sinful 
and  miserable  to  all  eternity  ?'  No  ;  it  is  your  willingness  to 
be  a  sinner,  which  is  now  preparing  you  for  hell,  and  leading 
you,  step  by  step,  to  destruction.  And  should  you  ever  enter 
the  abodes  of  darkness,  it  will  be  your  voluntary  wickedness 
which  will  perpetuate  your  misery.  God  does  not  compel 
nor  command  any  of  his  creatures  to  sin,  or  to  be  willing  to 
sin,  either  in  this  world  or  the  world  to  come.  He  forbids 
your  choice  of  sin.  He  commands  you  to  repent,  and  by 
Jesus  Christ  to  return  and  hve.  He  commands  you  to 
choose,  not  hell,  but  heaven,  swearing  by  himself  that  he  hath 
no  pleasure  in  your  death,  and  entreating,  "  turn  ye,  turn  ye, 
for  why  will  you  die."  But  if,  in  the  face  of  prohibitions, 
and  threatenings,  and  entreaties,  you  will  choose  death,  and 
treasure  up  wrath  until  you  are  fitted  for  destruction,  you  will 
then,  if  sent  to  hell,  have  no  cause  to  complain  of  your  allot- 
ment, nor  any  right  to  dissent  from  your  sentence  of  condem- 
nation ;  and  your  conscience,  whatever  your  heart  may  say, 
never  will  dissent. 

This  day,  then,  if  you  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts.  Repent,  immediately  ;  return  and  worship,  and  bow 
down,  and  kneel  before  the  Lord  your  Maker.  It  is  not 
tears,  and  feigned  prayers,  and  heartless  resolutions,  that  can 
appease  your  God.  You  are  alienated  from  God,  and  you 
must  be  reconciled.  It  is  hopeless  to  contend  with  God  ; 
you  cannot  conquer,  you  cannot  escape,  you  cannot  endure 
his  displeasure,  and  yet  you  must  submit  or  fall  under  it  for- 
ever.— You  are  opposing  that  kingdom,  by  which  the  glory  of 
God  is  to  be  illustrated  and  his  creation  blessed.  If  God 
were  indifferent  to  his  glory,  or  indifferent  to  the  good  of  his 
kingdom,  you  might  hope  to  profit  from  his  neutrality.     But 


28 

God  is  not  indifferent.  His  whole  immense  mind  is  awake 
to  the  subject,  and  glows  with  intense  desire,  and  unwavering 
determination  to  effect  his  purpose,  and  all  the  resources  of 
his  power,  and  wisdom,  and  knowledge,  stand  prepared  to 
overturn  his  enemies.  The  government  of  God  is  indeed 
terrible  to  you,  not  because  it  is  unjust,  but  because  it  is  just, 
and  you  oppose  it.  It  is  rolled  on  by  the  hand  of  omnipo- 
tence, with  all  the  ardor  of  infinite  benevolence,  and  you 
have  arisen  up  to  stop  its  progress ;  and  there  is  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  submit,  and  unite,  and  go  on  with  God,  or  be 
crushed  by  his  power,  and  consumed  by  the  fierceness  of  his 
wrath.  With  such  hearts  of  alienation,  are  you  prepared  to 
meet  your  God  ?  Is  death  hasting  to  overtake  you  ?  Is  the 
grave  opening  to  receive  you,  and  will  it  close  forever  upon 
your  glory  f  Is  the  trump  of  God  preparing  to  sound, 
and  will  it  call  you  forth  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation  ? 
Is  there  pardon,  and  will  you  not  accept  it  f  Are  there 
boundless  realms  of  light,  and  will  you  live  in  eternal  exile  ? 
Is  there  a  glorious  God,  and  will  you  never  love  him  ?  Is 
there  but  one  prison  in  the  universe,  and  will  you  make  that 
your  everlasting  abode  ?  Go,  listen  to  the  song  of  praise. — 
Go  forth,  and  look  upon  the  miseries  of  the  lost,  hear  their 
waillngs,  and  behold  the  smoke  of  their  torment.  Is  this  the 
society  which  you  choose  instead  of  heaven,  and  these  the 
employments  In  which  you  would  spend  the  ages  of  eternity  ? 
Is  there  one  of  you  who  has  laid  aside  the  hope  of  heaven, 
one  who  has  resolved  to  wage  eternal  war  with  God  ?  Why 
then  do  you  continue  the  work  of  ruin  ?  .  Have  you  not  sins 
enough  to  answer  for  ?  Have  not  your  souls  stood  long 
enough  in  jeopardy  ?  Every  moment  you  are  multiplying 
provocations  against  heaven.  Every  moment  you  are  despis- 
ing the  riches  of  the  goodness  of  God.  Every  moment 
justice  pleads,  with  louder  importunity,  "  cut  them  down  ;" 
and  mercy,  with  feebler  voice,  "  spare  them  a  little  longer." 
The  voice  of  mercy  will  soon  be  heard  no  more.  The 
patience  of  God  will  not  wait   forever.     His  Spirit  will  not 


29 

always  strive.  A  hand's  breadth  only  is  between  you  and  the 
grave.  If  you  have  any  work  to  do,  it  must  be  done  quickly, 
for  death  is  at  tiie  door.  This  day  perverted,  may  be  the 
last  you  will  ever  see.  This  moment,  your  sun  may  be  casting 
its  last  beams  upon  the  mountains.  Or  should  you  live,  this 
day  may  close  the  period  of  divine  influence.  This  dis- 
course neglected,  may  be  the  last  by  which  God  will  ever 
expostulate  with  you  in  mercy. 

By  all  the  joys,  then,  of  immortality,  and  by  all  the  sorrows 
of  eternal  death ;  by  all  the  mercies  of  God,  and  by  all  the 
terrors  of  his  wrath,  I  beseech  you,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God. 
Submit  to  him,  and  he  will  rule  for  his  own  glory,  and  you 
shall  behold  his  glory  and  rejoice  in  it  forever.  But  rebel, 
and  still  he  will  reign,  still  he  will  bless  his  kingdom,  but  he 
will  exclude  you,  forever,  from  its  holy  joys. 


SERMON  II. 


THE  REMEDY  FOR  DUELLING. 


Isaiah,  lix.  14,  15. 


And  judgment  is  turned  away  backward,  and  justice  standeth  afai"  off:  for 
truth  is  fallen  in  the  street,  and  equity  cannot  enter. 

The  people  of  Israel,  when  this  passage  was  written, 
had  become  exceedingly  corrupt,  and  were  sinking  under  the 
pressure  of  fearful  judgments. 

But  although  they  are  hardened  in  sin,  they  are  not  insen- 
sible to  misery ;  and  though  regardless  of  God  as  their 
benefactor,  they  murmur  and  tremble  before  him  as  the 
author  of  their  calamities. 

They  admit,  indeed,  their  sinfulness,  but  suppose  that  they 
have  made  already  a  sufficient  atonement  for  it.  It  is  not 
for  sending  judgments,  therefore,  that  they  impeach  the  Al- 
mighty, but  for  continuing  them.  Not  because  he  is  just, 
but  because  he  has  no  mercy.  "  Wherefore  have  we  fasted, 
(say  they)  and  thou  seest  not — have  we  afflicted  our  soul, 
and  thou  takesl  no  knowledge." 

The  majesty  of  heaven  condescends  to  reply.  He  de- 
clares their  sin  to  be  the  cause  of  his  judgments  ;  and  their 
hypocrisy  and  impenitence,  the  ground  of  their  continu- 
ance. 


31 

The  sins  which  brought  down  the  judgments  of  heaven 
were,  it  appears,  national  sins.  As  individuals  they  were 
guilty,  and  each  had  contributed  to  augment  the  national 
stock.  But  of  all  classes,  their  rulers  and  men  of  wealth 
and  eminence  had  been  the  most  liberal  contributers.  Their 
private  character  was  abominable,  and  their  public  character 
was  no  better.  They  perverted  justice — their  feet  ran  to 
evil — their  hands  were  defiled  with  blood.  Their  thoughts 
were  thoughts  of  iniquity  ;  wasting  and  destruction  were  in 
their  paths. 

The  profligate  example  of  rulers  has  at  all  times  a  perni- 
cious influence.  It  had  in  the  present  case.  Conspicuous  by 
its  elevation,  and  surrounded  by  the  fascinations  of  honor,  it 
ensnared  the  young,  emboldened  the  timid,  and  called  har- 
dened villains  from  their  dark  retreats.  A  tremendous  scene 
ensued — a  scene  of  impurity,  intrigue,  jealousy,  violence  and 
murder.  And  there  was  none  to  help.  All  bonds  were  sun- 
dered— the  foundations  were  destroyed.  "  None  called  for 
justice."  The  oppressed  did  not,  because  they  despaired  of 
her  aid  ;  and  the  wicked  did  not,  because  they  were  too 
guilty  to  trust  to  her  decisions. 

Doubtless  in  the  humble  walks  of  life,  there  were  some 
who  had  escaped  this  contagion  of  bad  example,  and  who, 
had  they  been  united  and  courageous,  might  have  set  bounds 
to  these  evils  ;  but  they  neglected  to  make  exertion,  they 
were  dismayed,  and  gave  up  the  cause  of  God  without  an 
effort. 

1  have  no  conception  that  this  state  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
is,  in  general,  a  correct  portrait  of  our  own.  But  are  there 
no  points  of  resemblance  .''  I  allude  now  only  to  the  conduct 
of  such  of  our  rulers  and  men  of  eminence,  as  denominate 
themselves  men  of  honor  ;  and  who,  despising  tlie  laws  of 
their  country  and  their  God,  adjust  with  weapons  of  death 
their  private  quarrels.  To  such,  the  character  ascribed  to 
the  Jewish  rulers  is  afFectingly  applicable.  Their  hands  are 
full  of  blood  ;  and  wasting  and  destruction  are  in  their  paths. 


32 

I  allude  also  to  the  impunity  with  which,  in  a  community 
nominally  christian,  and  under  the  eye  of  the  law,  these 
deeds  of  violence  are  committed.  With  respect  to  the 
punishment  of  even  murder,  committed  in  a  duel,  "judgment 
is  turned  away  backward,  and  justice  standeth  afar  off:  truth 
is  fallen  in  the  street,  and  equity  cannot  enter." 

It  may  be  added,  that,  as  among  the  Jews,  \he  people,  who 
by  the  influence  of  public  sentiment  might  have  limited  the 
evils  of  their  day,  remained  inactive  ;  so  the  great  body  of 
this  nation,  although  they  abhor  the  crime  of  dueUing,  remain 
inactive  spectators  of  the  wide-wasting  evil. 

But,  it  will  be  demanded,  '  how  can  the  people  prevent 
duelling.^  Already  laws  are  enacted, With  severe  penalties; 
besides  this  what  can  we  do  ,'"  You  can  rescue  these  laws 
from  contempt,  by  securing  their  prompt  execution.  Do 
you  demand  how  f  By  W'ithholding  your  suffrage  from 
every  man  whose  hands  are  stained  with  blood,  or  who  has 
been  directly  or  indirectly  concerned  in  a  duel ;  and  by 
intrusting  to  men  of  fair  moral  character,  and  moral  principle, 
the  making  and  execution  of  your  laws. 

It  will  therefore  be  the  object  of  this  discourse,  to  suggest 
and  illustrate  the  reasons  which  should  induce  every  man  to 
withhold  his  vote  from  any  person  who  has  fought,  or  aided 
in  fighting,  a  duel. 

1.  The  elevation  of  duellists  to  power,  is  a  practice  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  precepts  of  the  christian  religion. 

Civil  government  is  a  divine  ordinance.  The  particular 
form,  is  left  to  the  discretion  of  men  ;  but  the  character  of 
rulers,  God  has  himself  prescribed.  They  must  be  just 
men.  Such  as  fear  God — a  terror  to  evil  doers,  and  a 
praise  to  them  that  do  ivell.  Do  duellists  answer  to  tliis 
description  ?  Are  they  just  men  ?  Do  they  fear  God  ^ 
Look  at  their  law  of  honor.  It  constitutes  the  party  judge 
in  his  own  cause,  and  executor  of  his  own  sentence.  Its 
precepts,  like  those  of  Draco,  are  written  in  blood.  Death, 
or  exposure  to  it,  is  its  lightest  penalty  ;  and   this,  with  un- 


33 

relenting  severity,  is  inflicted  for  the  most  trifling  offence, 
as  well  as  for  the  most  enormous  crime  ;  and  as  often  per- 
haps upon  the  innocent,  as  upon  the  guilty. 

When  arrested  by  the  fatal  challenge,  no  plea  of  reverence 
for  God,  of  respect  for  human  law,  of  conscience,  of  inno- 
cency,  absence  of  anger,  actual  friendship,  affection  to 
parents,  wife  or  children,  the  hope  of  heaven  or  fear  of  hell, 
is  for  one  moment  admitted.  All  obligations  are  cancelled  ; 
all  ties  are  burst  asunder  ;  all  consequences  are  disregarded. 
"  Nor  justice  nor  mercy  may  interpose,  to  mitigate  the  rigors 
of  the  controversy.  The  peaceable  must  fight  the  quarrel- 
some— the  rich  man,  the  bankrupt — the  father  of  a  family, 
the  libertine — the  son  of  many  hopes,  the  worthless  prodi- 
gal." It  is  a  law  which  inculcates  no  virtue,  and  which 
prohibits  no  crime,  if  it  be  honorably  committed.  It  tolerates 
adultery,  blasphemy,  intemperance,  revenge,  and  murder. 
Thou  shalt  kill,  is  its  first  and  great  command,  and  too 
much  conscience  to  obey  it,  is  the  only  unpardonable  sin. 
The  obedient  subjects  of  a  law  so  impious,  so  unmerciful 
and  unjust,  God  hath  denounced  as  unfit  to  govern  men. 
They  are  disfranchised  by  heaven.     But, 

2.  The  duellist  is  a  murderer  :  and,  were  there  no  sen- 
tence of  exclusion  from  civil  power  contained  in  the  word  of 
God,  the  abhorrence  of  murder  should  exclude  from  confi- 
dence these  men  of  blood. 

"  Murder  (says  Blackstone)  is  committed,  when  a  person 
of  sound  memory  and  discretion,  killeth  any  reasonable 
creature  in  being,  with  malice  aforethought,  either  express 
or  implied.  Express  malice  is,  when  one,  with  a  sedate  de- 
liberate mind,  and  formed  design,  doth  kill  another.  This 
takes  in  the  case  of  deliberate  duelling,  where  both  parties 
meet  avowedly  with  an  intent  to  murder." — And  a  greater 
than  Blackstone  has  said  :  "  If  a  man  smite  Ms  neighbor 
with  an  instrument  of  iron,  so  that  he  die,  he  is  a  murderer. 
And  if  he  smite  him  with  a  hand  weapon  of  wood,  where- 
with he  may  die,  and  he  die,  he  is  a  murderer.     And  if  he 


34 

thrust  him  of  hatred,  or  hurl  at  him  by  lying  of  wait  that 
he  die,  or  in  enmity  smite  him  with  his  hand  that  he  die, 
he  that  smote  him  shall  surely  be  put  to  death,  for  he  is  a 
murderer."  The  laws  of  the  several  States  have  also  spo- 
ken on  this  subject,  and  in  perfect  accordance  with  reason 
and  the  word  of  God,  declare  the  taking  of  life  in  a  duel  to 
be  murder.  The  appointed  punishment  of  murder  is  death. 
God  who  defines  the  crime,  has  himself  specified  the  penalty. 
"  Whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be 
shed.  The  murderer  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  The 
avenger  of  blood  himself  shall  slay  the  murderer.  Moreover 
ye  shall  take  no  satisfaction  for  the  life  of  a  murderer  which 
is  guilty  of  death,  but  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  He 
shall  flee  to  the  pit ;    let  no  man  stay  him." 

These  denunciations  of  the  word  of  God  are  peremptory, 
and  are  to  this  moment  in  full  force.  The  law  violated  by 
the  murderer  is  a  moral  law.  The  cancelling  of  Jewish 
ceremonies  has  not  affected  it.  The  penally  is  the  penalty 
of  a  moral  law,  and  the  obligation  to  inflict  it  is  universal  and 
immutable.  Shall  we  then  dare  to  rise  up  in  the  face  of 
heaven,  and  turn  judgment  away  backward  ?  Shall  we 
snatch  from  the  dungeon  and  the  gallows  the  victims  of  jus- 
tice, to  invest  them  with  power,  and  adorn  them  with  dignity 
and  honor  ? 

But  every  duellist,  it  will  perhaps  be  said,  is  not  a  murder- 
er, inasmuch  as  death  is  not  always  the  consequence  of  fight- 
ing. The  death  of  the  victim  is,  I  know,  necessary  to  justify 
the  infliction  of  the  penalty  in  its  full  extent.  But  is  a  crime 
never  committed,  until  it  becomes  so  palpable  that  the  law 
can  take  hold  of  it  ?  1  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  every 
duellist  is  a  murderer,  for  he  has  said  so  himself.  He  has 
avowed  as  his  own,  principles  of  murder  ;  he  tells  you  that, 
if  occasion  calls,  and  his  skill  be  sufficient,  he  will  murder. 
And,  when  insulted  or  challenged  he  has  stood  forth  in  the 
field  of  combat,  and  aimed  the  deadly  weapon,  and  through 
want  of  skill  only,  or  through  fear  and  trembling,  has   failed 


35 

to  prostrate  his  victim,  is  he  therefore  not  a  murderer  ?  Is 
the  professed  robber  who  fails  in  his  attempt,  therefore  not  a 
robber  ?  Ts  the  assassin  because  his  thrust  was  not  deadly, 
therefore  not  an  assassin  ? 

3.  A  regard  to  the  public  safety,  as  well  as  respect  to  the 
authority  of  God,  and  an  abhorrence  of  murder,  should  with- 
hold the  suffrage  of  the  community  from  the  duelhst. 

When  we  intrust  life  and  liberty  and  property  in  the  hands 
of  men,  we  desire  some  pledge  of  their  fidelity.  But  what 
pledge  can  the  duellist  give  ?  His  religious  principle  is  noth- 
ing— his  moral  principle  is  nothing.  His  honor  is  our  only 
security.  But  is  this  sufficient?  Are  the  temptations  of 
power  so  feeble,  is  the  public  and  private  interest  so  insepa- 
rable, are  the  opportunities  of  fraud  so  few,  that  amid  the 
projects  of  ambition,  the  cravings  of  avarice,  and  the  conflicts 
of  party,  there  is  no  need  of  conscience  to  guarantee  the 
integrity  of  rulers  ?  The  law  of  honor,  were  hs  maxims 
obeyed  perfectly,  would  afford  no  security.  "  It. is  a  system 
of  rules  constructed  by  people  of  fashion,  and  calculated  to 
facilitate  their  intercourse  with  one  another,  and  for  no  other 
purpose."*  It  is  the  guardian  of  honorable  men  only.  The 
public  good  is  out  of  the  question — right  and  wrong  are  terms 
unknown  in  this  code.  Its  sole  object  is  to  enable  unprinci- 
pled men  to  live  together  with  politeness  and  good  humor  ; 
men,  whom  neither  the  laws  of  their  country,  nor  the  retribu- 
tions of  eternity,  can  restrain  from  acts  of  mutual  outrage  ; 
and  who,  by  the  expectation  of  instant  death — by  the  pistol  at 
the  breast — must  be  restrained  from  unchristian  provocation, 
and  drilled  into  good  behaviour.  It  is  for  the  interest  of  this 
noble  portion  of  the  human  race  that  honor  legislates.  But 
for  the  common  people,  the  ignoble  vulgar,  it  has  no  concern. 
They,  it  seems,  have  no  honor  j  or  if  they  have,  laws  and 
courts,  and  fines,  and  constables,  may  suffice  to  take  care 
of  it. 

Hence  the  honor  of  a  duelling  legislator  does  not  restrain 
him  in  the  least  from  innumerable  crimes,  which  affect  the 

*  Paley's  Philosopby. 


36 

peace  of  society.  He  may  contemn  the  Saviour  of  men, 
and  hate  and  oppose  the  rehgion  of  his  country.  He 
may  be  a  Julian  in  bitterness,  and  by  swearing  cause  the 
earth  to  mourn  :  in  passion  a  whirlwind  ;  in  cruelty  to  ten- 
ants, to  servants,  and  to  his  family,  a  tiger.  He  may  be  a 
gambler,  a  prodigal,  a  fornicator,  an  adulterer,  a  drunkard, 
a  murderer,  and  not  violate  the  laws  of  honor.  Nay,  honor 
not  only  tolerates  crimes,  but  in  many  instances  it  is  the 
direct  and  only  temptation  to  crime. 

What  has  torn  yonder  wretches  from  the  embraces  of  their 
wives  and  their  children,  and  driven  them  to  the  field  of 
blood — to  the  confines  of  hell  ?  What  nerves  those  arms, 
rising  to  sport  with  life  and  heaven  ?  It  is  honor — the  pledge 
of  patriotism — the  evidence  of  rectitude  !  Ah,  it  is  done  ! — 
The  blood  streams,  and  the  victim  welters  on  the  ground. 
And  see  the  victor  coward  running  from  the  field,  and  for 
a  few  days,  like  Cain,  a  fugitive  and  vagabond,  until  the  first 
burst  of  indignation  has  passed,  and  the  hand  of  time  has 
soothed  the  outraged  sensibility  of  the  community  ;  then  pub- 
licly, and  as  if  to  add  insult  to  injustice,  returning  to  offer  his 
services,  and  to  pledge  his  honor,  that  your  lives  and  your 
rights  shall  be  safe  in  his  hand.  Nor  is  this  j^ie  only  case 
where  honor  becomes  the  temptation  to  crime  ;  it  operates  in 
all  cases  where  the  maxims  of  this  infernal  combination  have 
attached  disgrace  to  the  performance  of  duty,  and  honor  to 
the  perpetration  of  iniquity.  And  beside  the  crimes  which 
honor  tolerates,  and  the  scarcely  inferior  number  which  it 
enjoins,  there  are  a  variety  of  cases  where  it  will  not  restrain 
from  treacheries  confessedly  dishonorable. 

What  security  can  a  mere  man  of  honor  give  that  he  will 
not  betray  our  interest  in  every  case  where  it  can  be  done 
without  detection  ?  What  shall  secure  us  when  the  price 
of  perfidy  is  so  high,  as  to  compensate  for  the  disgrace  of  an 
honorable  sale  ?*      What,  where   attachment  to  the   public 

*  A  prime  minister  of  England,  after  much  experience,  said  that  every  man  had 
his  price  : — and  appHed  to  men  who  have  no  fear  of  God  before  them — who  have  no 
pledge  of  rectitude  but  "  wliat  will  the  world  think  of  ine  1"  the  justice  of  his 
opinion  cannot  reasonably  be  doubted. 


37 

good  would  sacrifice  popularity  ?  For  in  this  case  the  more 
tender  his  regard  to  reputation,  and  dread  of  disgrace,  the 
more  certainly  will  he  abandon  the  public  good,  and  pursue 
his  private  interest.  What  also,  when  he  may  follow  a  multi- 
tude to  do  evil,  and  annihilate  his  disgrace  by  dividing  it 
with  many  ?  What,  when  his  reputation  is  already  gone, 
before  his  terra  of  service,  or  his  ability  to  do  mischief  ex- 
pires f  What,  in  those  numberless  cases,  where  imagined 
ingratitude  on  the  part  of  the  people  shall  impel  wounded 
pride  to  an  honorable  revenge  ?  What,  where  the  disgrace  of 
poverty,  as  often  happens,  is  more  dreaded  than  the  disgrace 
of  a  dishonest  act  ? 

I  know  it  is  said,  that  a  man's  principles  and  his  private 
character  are  nothing  to  us.  If  his  ability  be  adequate,  and 
his  politics  correct,  and  his  public  conduct  as  yet  irreproach- 
able, this  is  sufficient.  But  are  you  prepared  to  be  the 
dupes  of  such  wild  absurdity  ?  According  to  this  sentiment, 
a  man  may  set  his  mouth  against  the  heavens — he  may  be  a 
drunkard  in  the  intervals  of  official  duty,  a  prodigal,  a  tyrant, 
a  mere  savage  in  his  family,  and  still  be  trumpeted  by  un- 
principled politicians  and  electioneering  hand-bills,  as  the 
great  champion  of  liberty,  the  very  Atlas  on  whose  shoulders 
rests  the  destiny  of  his  country.  But  what  is  a  man's  politi- 
cal creed,  what  is  his  past  conformity  to  your  wishes,  when 
his  profligate  private  life  demonstrates  tiiat  he  is  prepared  to 
betray  you  the  first  moment  he  shall  find  it  for  his  interest  ? 
Dispense  with  moral  principle  and  private  virtue,  and  all  is 
gone.  You  can  find  no  substitute  ;  honor  is  a  cobweb,  and 
patriotism  an  empty  name  in  the  hour  of  trial.  The  single 
circumstance,  that  neither  the  interest  nor  the  reputation  of 
the  duellist  will  come  in  competition  with  your  interest, 
is  your  only  security  that,  if  able,  he  will  not  sport  with 
your  liberties  as  wantonly  as  he  has  sported  with,  or  is  pre- 
pared to  sport  with,  the  life  of  his  neighbor.  Admit,  that 
there  are  instances,  in  which  men  destitute  of  principle  have 

acted  with  integrity  in  public  stations  ;  can  you  tell  me  how 
6 


38 

many  thousands  have  betrayed  their  trust  for  want  of  it  ? 
These  are  exempt  cases — the  persons  did  not  happen  to  be 
tempted.     But  do  you  desire  no  better  pledge  of  rectitude 
than  the  mere  absence  of  temptation  ? — Will  you  confide  in 
thieves  and  swindlers  to  legislate,  because  two  in  a  thousand, 
though  utterly  unprincipled,  may  have  found  it  for  their  in- 
terest not  to  cheat  you  ?     It  is  in  trying  emergencies,  when 
the  price  of  perfidy  is  high,  and  temptation  imperious,  that 
unprincipled   men    are   weighed  in  the  balance    and    found 
wanting.     And  will  you  appoint  cowards  and  traitors  to  com- 
mand your  armies,   because   they   might  answer  in  time  of 
peace  ;  or  intrust  your   lives  to  quacks  in  medicine,  because 
under  slight  indispositions,  they  might  suffice  to  administer 
herb-drink  ^     Why   does    this    lingeriaig    confidence    in    the 
duellist  still  survive  the  extinction  of  moral  principle  ^     One 
crime  of  equal  magnitude  in  any  other  case,  would  decide 
his  fate   forever.     The   failing   merchant,   convicted  of  dis- 
honesty, is  recorded  a  knave  ;  the  receipt  of  a  bribe  by  a 
judge,    is    irrevocable    infamy  ;  perjury    cancels    forever   all 
confidence  ;  the  thief  solicits  in  vain  the  public  suffrage  ;  the 
highway  robber  can  find  none  to  exercise  charity,  none  to 
palliate  his    crime  ;  and    the   common   murderer,   might    he 
live,   would   be   doomed  to   linger   out   a    life   of   disgusting 
infamy.     But  the  duellist,  who  in  cold  blood,   or  with  bitter 
malice  and   burning    rage    murders   his    neighbor,   can    find 
enough  to  exercise  charity  and  palliate  his  crime  :  a  whole 
state,   a  whole   nation,    to  testify  by  their    votes    that   they 
consider  it  nothing. 

But  alas  !  the  duellist,  frail  man,  is  overcome  by  tempta- 
tion. He  has  peculiar  sensibilities,  habits  of  education,  and 
modes  of  thinking,  which  in  this  one  case  led  him  astray, 
without  inferring  at  all  a  general  deficiency  of  principle, 
religious  or  moral. 

In  plain  language,  because  the  duellist  is  educated  a  duel- 
list, the  crime  of  wilful  murder  in  him  is  very  small,  and  is 
consistent  with  religious  and  moral  principle.     If  men,   then. 


39 

are  only  educated  to  thieving,  assassination  and  robbery — 
if,  by  habit  and  false  reasoning,  they  are  so  familiarised  to 
crime  as  to  rob,  and  steal,  and  destroy  life  without  much 
consciousness  of  guilt,  then,  indeed,  they  are  very  honest  men, 
and  are  fit  to  superintend  the  affairs  of  the  nation. 

But  were  it  admitted — did  we  even  know  that  some  one 
duellist  was  in  fact  a  man  of  principle,  and  overcome  by 
stress  of  temptation  only,  would  it  be  proper  to  confide  in 
him  as  a  legislator  ?  Would  you,  had  his  crime  been  com- 
mon murder,  an  act  of  robbery  or  perjury,  though  you  knew 
he  had  been  surprised  or  thrust  into  it  by  powerful  tempta- 
tion ?  Would  it  not  manifest  him,  if  not  unprincipled,  at 
least  too  feeble  and  flexible  to  stand  before  the  numerous 
and  powerful  temptations  to  which  his  situation  would  expose 
him  ?  A  coward  may  be  an  honest  man,  but  certainly  a 
coward  should  not  be  intrusted  with  the  command  of  armies. 
Besides,  this  lightly  passing  over  crimes  of  the  deepest  dye,  I 
may  even  say,  this  rewarding  them  with  the  profits  and  hon- 
ors of  the  state,  confounds  in  the  public  mind  the  distinctions 
between  virtue  and  vice,  and  weakens  that  abhorrence  of 
crime,  which  is  the  guardian  of  public  morality.  Elevate 
swindlers  to  office,  and  who  shall  guarantee  the  integrity  of 
the  common  people  .''  Elevate  adulterers,  and  who  will 
punish  incontinence  ?  Elevate  murderers,  and  who  will  be 
the  avengers  of  blood  ^ 

But,  waving  all  moral  considerations,  what  security  have 
we  that  the  duellist  will  not,  if  intrusted  with  our  liberties, 
desert  us  in  the  hour  of  danger?  What  security  can  we  have, 
when  it  is  in  the  power  of  every  factious  rival  who  can  shoot 
strait,  to  compel  him  to  the  field  ;  and  by  destroying  his  life, 
to  derange,  perhaps  to  annihilate,  the  government  f"  What  if 
Washington,  in  the  crisis  of  our  fate,  had  fallen  in  a  duel  ^ 
What  if  the  Governors,  the  Senators,  the  Judges  of  the 
States  were  so  infatuated  with  the  madness  of  honor,  that  in 
the  moment  of  peril  we  could  have  no  other  secui'ity  of  their 
constancy,  than  that  no  person  should  tempt  them  to  hazard 
tlieir  lives  and  put  in  jeopardy  their  country  .'' 


?  40 

I 

4.  The  system  of  duelling  is  a  system  of  despotism,  tend- 
ing directly  and  powerfully  to  the  destruction  of  civil 
liberty. 

A  free  government  is  a  government  of  laws  made  by  the 
people  for  the  protection  of  life,  reputation,  and  property. 
A  despotic  government  is  where  life  and  all  its  blessings  are 
subject  to  the  caprice  of  an  individual.  Those  maxims  and 
practices,  therefore,  which  remove  life,  reputation,  and  pro- 
perty, from  under  the  protection  of  law,  and  subject  them  to 
the  caprice  of  an  individual,  are  the  essence  of  despotism. 
Nor  is  it  material  whether  this  is  done  by  open  violence,  or 
by  the  application  of  unlawful  motives  which  as  effectually 
answer  the  purpose.  Every  man  conforming  to  the  laws  of 
his  country,  has  a  right  to  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  life 
and  all  its  immunities.  Nor  has  any  individual  a  right,  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  to  interrupt  this  enjoyment.  No  man  has 
a  right  to  tempt  his  neighbor  to  renounce  the  protection  of 
law,  and  much  less  to  punish  him  with  heavy  penalties  for 
refusing  to  do  it.*  But  tliis  is  precisely  the  despotic  privi- 
lege which  duellists  have  arrogated  to  themselves.  The  man 
who  refuses  a  challenge,  so  far  as  their  accursed  influence 
extends,  is  out-lawed — is  branded  with  infamy  and  exposed 
to  perpetual  insult.  But  what  has  he  done  ?  He  has  feared 
to  offend  his  God  ;  and  under  trying  temptations  to  the  con- 
trary, has  bowed  submissive  to  the  laws  of  his  country  !  and 
for  this  he  is  punished — substantially  punished,  in  a  free 
country,  without  trial,  without  law,  nay,  even  in  opposition 
to  law  ! 

If  the  despotic  principles  of  duelling  terminated  in  theory, 
they  might  excite  our  compassion  as  mere  distempers  of 
the  brain  ;  but  their  practical  influence  is  powerful  and  fatal, 
as  inimical  to  our  rights  in  fact,  as  it  is  in  theory  ;  tending 
directly  and  powerfully  to  the  destruction  of  civil  liberty. 

Equal  laws  are  essential  to  civil  liberty  ;  but  equal  laws  are 
far   from   satisfying  the   elevated  claims  of  duellists.     That 

■  Hence,  the  mere  snulmg  of  a  ehalleii'^e  is  punishable  hy  law. 


41 

protection  which  the  law  affords  to  them  in  common  with 
others,  they  despise.  They  must  have  more — a  right  to 
decide  upon,  and  to  redress  their  own  grievances.  '  When 
we  please,'  (say  they,)  '  we  will  avail  ourselves  of  the  law  ; 
and  when  we  please,  we  will  legislate  for  ourselves.  For  the 
vulgar,  the.dull  forms  of  law  may  suffice  ;  but  for  a  reputa- 
tion so  sacred,  and  for  feelings  so  refined  and  sensitive  as 
ours,  they  are  vastly  inadequate.  Nor  shall  they  restrain 
our  hand  from  the  vindication  of  our  honor,  or  protect  the 
WTCtch  who  shall  presume  to  impeach  it.'  Is  this  liberty  and 
equality  .'*  Are  these  gentlemen,  indeed,  so  greatly  superior 
to  the  people.''  Is  their  reputation  so  much  more  important  ? 
Are  their  feelings  so  much  more  sacred  ?  Is  pain  more 
painful  to  them,  or  self-government  less  their  duty  than  ours  ? 
Must  we  bear  all  injuries  which  the  law  cannot  redress  ? 
Must  we  stifle  our  resentments,  or,  if  we  vent  them  in  acts  ol 
murder,  swing  upon  the  gallows  ;  while  they  with  impunity 
express  their  indignation,  and  satiate  with  blood  a  revengeful 
spirit  ? 

But  education,  it  is  said,  has  inspired  these  men  with  sen- 
sibilities peculiar  to  themselves,  for  which  the  cold  process  of 
iaw  has  made  no  provision.  So  has  the  education  of  the 
savage  given  him  peculiar  feelings,  for  the  gratification  of 
which,  the  dilatory  forms  of  law  are  equally  inadequate. 
But  will  you  let  the  savage  loose  with  tomahawk  and  scalp- 
ing-knife,  because  educational  feelings  can  find  no  consolation 
in  the  regular  administration  of  justice  ?  The  feelings  for 
which  the  law  makes  no  provision,  are  feelings  for  which  it 
ought  not  to  provide — ungodly  feelings — the  haughtiness  of 
pride  and  relentless  revenge,  and  which,  instead  of  a  dispen- 
sation for  indulgence,  deserve  the  chastisement  of  scorpions. 
To  reduce  such  unruly  spirits,  the  law  should  brandish  its 
glittering  sword,  and  utter  all  its  thunders.  Nothing  is  need- 
ful to  make  legal  redress  as  adequate  to  duellists  as  to  us, 
but  habits  of  self-government.  And  are  they  not  under  the 
same  obligation  that  we  are  to  acquire  these  habits .''     And  if 


42 

they  will  not  take  the  trouble  to  govern  their  temper — if  they 
will  not  encounter,  that  self-denial  which  the  laws  of  God  and 
man  inculcate — if  they  will  be  savages  in  a  civilized  land,  let 
them  be  treated  as  savages.  And  when  they  murder,  elevate 
them  to  the  gallows,  and  not  to  posts  of  honor. 

The  administration  of  justice  ought,  above  all  things,  to  be 
impartial.  The  rich  and  the  honorable  ought  to  be  equally 
liable  to  punishment  for  their  crimes  with  the  poor  ;  and, 
according  to  their  desert,  punished  with  equal  severity.  But 
while  duellists  bear  sway,  this  can  never  be.  It  is  a  fact, 
that  the  man  who  steals  a  shilling  is  more  liable  to  detection, 
and  more  sure  to  be  punished,  than  the  man  who  in  a  duel 
murders  his  neighbor.  Is  this  equal  ?  Shall  petty  thefts 
excite  indignation  and  be  punished  with  severity,  while  mur- 
derers with  bold   impunity  walk  on  every  side  i' 

A  sacred  regard  to  law  is  indispensable  to  the  existence  of 
a  mild  government.  In  proportion  as  obedience  ceases  to 
be  voluntary,  and  the  contempt  of  law  becomes  common, 
must  the  nerves  of  government  be  strengthened  until  it  be- 
comes in  essence,  if  not  in  name,  a  monarchy.  We  must 
have  protection  ;  and  the  more  numerous  and  daring  the 
enemy,  the  more  power  must  be  delegated  to  subdue  and 
control  them.  That  contempt  of  law,  therefore,  which  is 
manifested  by  the  duellist,  is  a  blow  at  the  vitals  of  liberty. 
It  is  the  more  deadly,  because,  from  the  genius  of  our  gov- 
ernment, the  example  has  a  peculiar  influence.  In  despotic 
governments  the  example  of  the  legislator  may  not  be  so 
pernicious.  Chains,  dungeons,  racks  and  gibbets,  may  keep 
the  people  in  their  place,  although  their  rulers  should  give 
themselves  a  license  to  sin.  Viewed  also  at  such  an  ab- 
ject distance,  the  example  loses  much  of  its  power.  But 
under  the  mild  government  of  a  republic,  there  is  no  such 
distance  between  the  rulers  and  the  ruled,  and  no  such  terrific 
restraints  to  deter  from  the  imitation  of  their  example.  To 
elevate  to  office  therefore,  duellists,  the  deliberate  contemners 
of  law,  is  to   place  their  example   in  the  most  conspicuous 


43 

point  of  view,  and  to  clothe  it  with  most  woful  efficacy  to 
destroy  pubhc  virtue.  Select  for  your  rulers  men  of  profli- 
gate example,  who  contemn  the  religion  and  despise  the  laws 
of  their  country,  and  they  need  not  conspire  to  introduce 
despotism ;  you  will  yourselves  introduce  it — you  will  flee  to 
it,  as  the  damned  will  flee  in  the  day  of  judgment  to  rocks 
and  mountains,  to  shield  you  from  the  operation  of  more  in- 
tolerable evils. 

The  tendency  of  duelling  to  restrain  liberty  of  speech  and 
of  the  press,  is  also  direct  and  powerful.  The  people  have 
a  right  to  investigate  the  conduct  of  rulers,  and  to  scrutinize 
the  character  of  candidates  for  office  ;  and  as  the  private  and 
moral  character  of  a  man  is  the  truest  index,  it  becomes 
them  to  be  particular  on  1,his  point.  But  who  will  speak  on 
this  subject,  who  will  publish,  when  the  duellist  stands 
before  him  with  pistol  at  the  breast  ?  If  a  few,  duellists 
themselves,  and  mad  with  ambition,  will  brave  the  danger, 
how  many  are  there  who  will  not  ?  And  what  aggravates 
the  restraint,  the  more  unprincipled  and  vile  the  man,  and 
the  greater  the  need  of  speaking,  the  greater  the  danger  of 
unveiling  his  enormity.  While  bent  upon  promotion,  and 
desperate  in  his  course,  he  is  prepared  to  seal  in  death  the 
lip  that  shall  publish  his  infamy.  What  should  we  think  of  a 
law  that  forbade  the  people  to  speak  of  the  immoralities  of 
candidates  for  office — which  made  death  the  penalty  of 
transgression,  and  which  produced  annually  as  many  deaths 
as  this  nefarious  system  of  duelling  ?  We. should  not  endure 
it  a  moment ;  if  Congress  were  to  sanction  by  a  law  the 
maxims  of  duelling,  it  would  produce  a  revolution.  And  will 
you  bear  encroachments  upon  liberty  from  lawless  indi- 
viduals, which  you  would  not  bear  a  moment  from  the 
government  itself.''  Would  you  spurn  from  your  confidence 
legislators  who  should  make  such  laws,  and  will  you  by  your 
votes  clothe  with  legislative  power  individuals,  who  in  con- 
tempt of  law,  do  the  same  thing  ? 

Nor  let   any  imagine  that  the  influence  of  this  engine  of 


44 

despotism  is  small ;  it  is  powerful  already,  and  is  every  year 
becoming  more  so,  as  duelling  increases ;  and  God  only 
knows  where  its  influence  will  end.  The  actual  encroach- 
ments of  Britain,  when  we  first  began  to  resist  them,  were 
not  one  half  so  alarming  as  the  encroachments  of  duellists. 
To  have  been  parallel,  she  must  have  executed  wantonly, 
without  judge  or  jury,  as  many  as  have  fallen  in  duels. 
What  sensations  would  such  conduct  have  excited  ?  Had 
it  depended  on  our  votes  merely,  would  England  have 
continued  to  legislate  ?  And  shall  lawless  despots  at  this 
day  perform  what  all  the  fleets  and  armies  of  England  could 
not? 

Duelling  in  its  operation  exposes  to  additional  risk  and 
danger  those  who  would  rise  to  usefulness  and  fame  in  civil 
hfe.  With  what  views  can  a  christian  parent  look  to  the 
law  as  a  profession  for  his  son,  where,  if  he  rise  to  fame,  he 
must  join  the  phalanx  of  murder,  or  if  he  refuse,  experience 
their  united  influence  against  him  ?  If  the  road  to  Wash- 
ington was  beset  with  robbers — if  they  sacrificed  yearly  as 
many  as  are  now^  slain  in  duels,  could  the  wretches  live  un- 
molested ?  Their  crimes  notorious,  could  they  mingle  in 
society  ?  Could  they  boast  of  their  prowess,  and  glory  in 
their  shame  f  Could  they  enjoy  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  receive  their  suffrages,  and  be  made  the  guardians 
of  civil  liberty  ? 

The  inconsistency  of  voting  for  duellists  is  glaring.  To 
profess  attachment  to  liberty,  and  vote  for  men  whose  prin- 
ciples and  whose  practices  are  alike  hostile  to  liberty — to 
contend  for  equal  laws,  and  clothe  W'ith  power  those  who 
despise  them — to  enact  law^s,  and  intrust  their  execution  to 
men  who  are  the  first  to  break  them,  is  a  farce  too  ridiculous 
to  be  acted  by  freemen.  In  voting  for  the  duellist,  we  pa- 
tronize a  criminal  whom,  in  our  law,  we  have  doomed  to 
die.  With  one  hand  we  erect  the  gallows,  and  with  the 
other  rescue  the  victim  ;  at  one  breath  declare  him  unfit 
to  live,  and  the   next  constitute  him  the   guardian   of  our 


45 

rights.  Cancel,  I  beseech  you,  the  laws  against  duelling — 
annihilate  your  criminal  code — level  to  the  ground  your 
prisons,  and  restore  to  the  sweets  of  society,  and  embraces 
of  charity,  their  more  innocent  victims.  Be  consistent.  If 
you  tolerate  one  set  of  villains,  tolerate  them  all  ;  if  murder 
does  not  stagger  your  confidence,  let  it  not  waver  at  inferior 
crimes. 

In  our  prayers,  we  request  that  God  would  bestow  upon 
us  good  rulers ;  just  men,  ruling  in  the  fear  of  God. 
But  by  voting  for  duellists  we  demonstrate  the  insincerity  of 
such  prayers — for  when,  by  the  providence  of  God,  it  is  left 
to  our  choice  whom  we  will  have,  we  vote  for  murderers. 
Unless  therefore,  we  would  continue  to  mock  God  by 
hypocritical  prayers,  we  must  cease  praying  for  good  men, 
or  we  must  cease  to  patronize  men  of  blood.  Do  we  not 
pray  also  for  the  preservation  of  liberty,  and  the  continuance 
of  national  prosperity  ?  And  do  we  not  know  that  good 
rulers  are  the  chosen  instruments  of  the  divine  blessing  ; 
and  that  when  God  would  chastise  a  people,  unprincipled 
rulers  are  the  rod  of  his  anger  ?  When  therefore,  the  selec- 
tion of  rulers  is  left  to  ourselves,  shall  we  disregard  his 
chosen  instruments  of  mercy,  and  expect  his  blessing  ,'* 
Shall  we  put  into  his  hand  the  rod  of  his  anger,  and  expect 
to  escape  chastisement  ? 

To  vote  for  the  duellist  is  to  assist  in  the  prostration  of 
justice,  and  indirectly,  to  encourage  the  crime  of  duelling. 

Laws  in  republics  depend  for  their  prompt  execution, 
upon  a  correct  and  efficient  ])ablic  sentiment.  The  highway 
robber  need  not  publish  his  daring  exploits  in  a  newspaper 
to  attract  notice.  A  common  indignation  glows  in  the  public 
mind — in  all  directions  the  son  of  violence  is  pursued,  and 
when  arrested  and  convicted,  is  sure  to  die.  In  several 
districts  of  the  United  States,  a  murder  committed  in  a  duel 
would  excite  equal  exertion  to  detect  the  murderer,  wiio,  on 
detection,  would  be  equally  sure  to  die.  The  great  officers 
of  government,  and  other  influential  characters,  dare  not,  if 
7 


46 

disposed,  connive  at  the  crime.  The  public  indignation, 
like  a  high  swollen  river,  would  sweep  away  any  one  who 
should  presume  to  turn  aside,  or  obstruct  its  course.  But 
in  other  parts  of  the  land,  the  frequency  of  the  crime  and 
its  immemorial  iuipunity  has  deadened  the  public  feeHng. 
Many  disapprove,  but  do  not  sufficiently  abhor  the  crime  ; 
they  are  sorry,  but  are  not  indignant.  They  wish  the  offi- 
cers of  government  would  execute  the  law,  but  do  not  compel 
them  to  do  it.  Duellists  are  apprised  of  this  debilitated 
state  of  public  feeling,  and  are  therefore  not  afraid  to  contra- 
vene the  feeble  public  will.  It  is  not  a  torrent,  unmanagea- 
ble and  dreadful,  but  a  puny  stream  which  they  dare  to  op- 
pose, and  which  they  have  learned  to  manage. 

When  therefore,  a  murder  is  committed  in  a  duel,  imme- 
diately a  great  bustle  is  made.  The  culprit  is  arrested,  or  is 
io  be  arrested — but,  alas !  he  cannot  be  found  ;  or  if  found, 
alas  !  there  are  no  witnesses  ;  or  if  there  are  witnesses,  alas !  ■ 
the  indictment  is  defective,  and  this  is  the  last  we  hear  of  it. 
The  first  effect  of  public  indignation  is  a  little  feared.  Justice 
may  not  as  yet  be  "turned  backward"  without  some  little 
manoeuvering ;  and  this  blustering  is  made  just  to  amuse 
until  the  first  emotion  subsides  ;  and  when  the  danger  is  over, 
the  sword  of  justice  drawn  only  to  deceive,  is  returned  to  its 
scabbard.  The  criminal  creeps  from  his  hiding  place,  tri- 
umphs in  his  guih,  and  if  insulted,  fights  again.  We  blame 
our  rulers,  but  by  whom  are  such  men  made  rulers,  and  by 
whose  negligence  are  they  emboldened  to  wink  at  this  most 
accursed  sin  f  Were  the  officers  of  justice  men  of  moral 
principle,  who  really  abhorred  duelling  and  desired  to  put  a 
stop  to  it,  would  the  laws  be  tlius  inefficacious  .'*  Would  it 
be  so  difficult  to  make  a  law  that  should  fasten  upon  the  cul- 
prit— so  difficult  to  arrest,  convict,  and  execute  ?  Is  there 
any  such  difficulty  in  bringing  to  justice  the  thief,  the  robber, 
and  the  common  murderer  ?  I  tell  you  nay  ;  the  traitor  is 
in  the  citadel ;  we  have  ourselves  put  him  there,  knowing  also 
that  he  would  let  the  criminal  go  ;  of  course,  we  are  acces- 


47 

sary  to  his  escape  and  to  the  prostration  of  justice,  as  really, 
as  if  with  our  own  hands  we  unbarred  and  threw  open  the 
gates  of  his  prison.  Indeed,  by  removing  the  only  restraints 
which  duellists  can  feel,  we  indirectly  encourage  the  crime. 
By  appointing  them  to  legislate,  we  remove  all  fear  of  legal 
punishment — all  fear  of  pecuniary  loss — all  fear  of  disgrace. 
We  say  to  the  aspiring  politician,  '  be  of  good  courage,  and 
avenge  yourself;  it  shall  be  no  slain  upon  your  character, 
no  impediment  to  your  promotion.  We  have  made  a  law, 
indeed,  but  we  mean  nothing  by  it.  If  you  please  not  to 
destroy  your  fellow  men,  we  shall  be  glad  ;  but  if  you  do 
please  to  destroy  them,  it  shall  not  have  the  weight  of  a  straw 
to  prevent  your  elevation.'  By  removing,  in  this  way,  all 
restraints  from  the  commission  of  the  crime,  we  encourage 
it,  though  indirectly,  yet  really  and  effectually,  as  if  we 
rewarded  the  culprit  from  the  public  treasury.  Nay,  by 
elevating  to  important  stations  men  whose  hands  are  stained 
with  blood,  we  do  little  less  than  reward  them  for  their 
crimes ;  and  it  has  been  asserted,  and  by  men  long  conver- 
sant in  the  affairs  of  state,  that  the  fighting  of  a  duel  is  a 
passport  to  honor. 

The  contempt  with  which  duellists  treat  the  opinions  and 
feelings  of  the  community,  is  a  reason  why  we  should  cease 
to  confide  in  them.  • 

The  people,  whatever  men  of  honor  may  think  of  them, 
constitute  the  strength,  the  virtue,  and  glory  of  the  nation  ; 
and  their  opinions  and  wishes  demand  respect  from  those 
who  legislate  for  them.  The  feelings  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people  are  decidedly  opposed  to  duelling.  This  is  mani- 
fest from  the  laws  on  this  subject,  and  from  the  fact  that  the 
mass  of  the  people  discard  those  notions  of  Gothic  honor, 
and  rest  satisfied  with  that  protection  and  redress  which  the 
laws  afford.  It  is  but  a  handful  of  men  only,  compared  with 
the  whole,  that  uphold  this  bloody  system.  That  which  by 
duellists  is  denominated  public  opinion,  and  which  constitutes 
the  dire  necessity  of  spiUing  each  other's  blood,  is  the  opinion 


48 

of  duellists  only — the  opinion  of  not  more  than  one  in  a 
thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  nation.  But  the  opinion  of 
this  handful  is,  by  those  who  compose  it,  deemed  of  far 
greater  consequence  than  the  opinion  and  feelings  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  people.  Duellists  well  know  our  aversion 
to  their  crimes,  our  grief  at  their  conduct,  and  our  desires  to 
wipe  off  this  disgrace  of  a  christian  land.  But  little  do  they 
care  for  our  opinions  or  our  feelings.  They  move  in  a  sphere 
too  much  above  us,  to  let  themselves  down  to  the  standard  of 
our  conceptions,  or  to  give  themselves  concern  about  our 
desires  or  aversions.  When  an  election  is  depending,  when 
they  need  our  votes  to  gratify  their  ambition,  or  satiate  their 
avarice,  then  indeed  they  sympathise  most  tenderly  with  the 
people.  The  people  are  every  thing  ;  their  wishes  are 
sacred,  and  their  voice  is  the  voice  of  God.  But  let  this 
end  be  accomplished,  and  a  challenge  or  an  insult  be  given ; 
and  neither  liberty,  nor  patriotism,  nor  the  voice  of  the 
people,  nor  the  voice  of  God,  can  avail  to  deter  them  from 
deeds  the  most  barbarous  and  despotic.  Shall  we  then  vote 
for  men  who  treat  with  contempt  our  opinions  and  our  feel- 
ings, who  basely  prostrate  our  laws,  when  we  have  nothing 
to  bestow  ;  and  who  again  creep  through  all  the  dirty  wind- 
ings of  hypocrisy,  wlien  their  promotion  depends  on  our  will  ? 
Wliat  are  all  their  professions  of  patriotism,  contradicted  by 
their  conduct.^  And  shall  they  deceive  us  still?  Let  them 
plead  for  hberty  with  the  tongue  of  men  and  angels,  and 
adore  her  cause  with  the  fervor  of  seraphs,  they  are  hypo- 
crites— mere  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbals. 

Withhold  the  public  suffrage  from  the  duellist,  and  the 
practice  of  fighting  duels  will  speedily  cease. 

Two  causes  will  insure  this  effect. 

1.  When  duellists  are  expelled  from  all  legislative  in- 
fluence, the  law  against  this  crime  will  be  promptly  executed. 
Duelling  does  not  prevail  now  because  the  penalty  of  law  is 
inadequate,  but  because  it  is  never  inflicted  ;  and  so  long 
as    dueUists    retain    the  confidence   of  the  people,   and   are 


clothed  with  power,  it  never  will  be  inflicted.  We  might 
as  reasonably  expect  horse-jockies,  gamblers,  and  thieves, 
it*  intrusted  with  government,  to  execute  the  laws  against 
themselves  ;  as  that  duellists  in  office  will  give  efficacy  to 
the  laws  against  duelling. 

But  let  men  who  in  this  respect  betray  the  confidence 
reposed  in  them — who  not  only  fight  duels  themselves,  but 
have  pleasure  in  those  that  do  the  same,  be  driven  fi"om 
their  stations,  and  their  places  supplied  with  men  of  firmness 
and  principle,  and  the  end  is  accomplished.  The  penahies 
of  the  law,  uniformly  and  faithfully  apphed,  will  prevent 
duelling  ;  and  to  insure  this,  nothing  is  necessary  but  to 
expel  traitors,  and  substitute  rulers  of  a  decided  character — 
men  who,  partaking  of  the  public  sentiment,  will  attempt  in 
earnest  to  give  to  that  sentiment,  as  expressed  in  the  law, 
its  entire  efficacy. 

2.  The  withholding  our  suffi'age  from  duellists  will  tend 
to  annihilate  the  practice,  by  arraying  the  public  opinion 
against  it  in  such  a  manner,  that  the  real,  unavoidable  dis- 
grace of  fighting,  will  be  greater  than  that  of  refusing  to 
fight. 

The  reason  why  men  of  honor  (falsely  so  called)  pay 
homage  to  the  law  of  honor,  is  because  the  maxims  of  this 
ghastly  code  are  among  a  certain  class  of  men  assumed  as 
their  opinion,  which  opinion  is  made  to  affect  in  a  sensible 
manner,  those  who  presume  to  disregard  it.  The  opinion  of 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  is  also  just  as  well  known,  but 
with  this  important  difference,  that  it  inflicts  no  penalty  on 
those  who  disregard  it.  It  is  vague,  feeble,  and  inefficacious. 
But  let  the  opinion  of  society  on  the  subject  of  duelling  be 
collected,  combined,  and  expressed  in  the  votes  of  the 
people,  and  it  will  operate  most  sensibly  upon  that  class  of 
men  who  now  most  despise  it.  It  will  involve  a  penalty 
which  they  cannot  but  feel,  and  which  they  cannot  evade. 
No  defect  in  the  Jaw — no  absconding  of  witnesses — no  flaw 
in  the  indictment — no  connivance  of  the  great,  can  come  to 


50 

their  assistance  in  this  dilemma.  If  they  will  violate  our 
laws,  they  shall  not  be  intrusted  with  power.  If  they  will 
murder,  we  will  invest  with  power  men  who  will  punish 
them.  In  this  way  we  cut  the  sinews  of  duelling,  and  bind 
to  good  behavior  by  the  motive  which  before  impelled  to  the 
crime.  The  opinion  of  the  people,  that  which  is  in  fact 
public  opinion,  becomes  prominent,  assumes  influence,  and 
overwhelms  the  absurd  opinions  of  bloody  men.  Motives 
of  compassion  and  of  justice,  both  demand  this  expression 
of  public  sentiment.  These  honorable  men  admit  the  sin 
and  the  folly  of  their  deeds.  They  disclaim  all  motives  of 
revenge  or  hatred.  Their  only  plea  is  necessity  ;  and  the 
only  necessity  is  the  imperious  mandate  of  public  opinion. 
They  even  lament  that  such  a  state  of  things  should  exist ; 
but  while  it  does  exist,  they  must  fight  or  encounter  disgrace. 
Is  it  not  our  duty  then  to  undeceive  these  deluded  men,  and 
to  rescue  from  death  these  reluctant  martyrs  of  honor? 
Must  they  be  haunted  all  their  days,  and  be  driven  to  despe- 
ration by  a  mere  spectre  of  the  imagination — by  a  public 
opinion  which  has  no  being  .''  Are  we  not  bound  to  teach 
them  their  mistake,  if  it  be  such,  and  to  wrest  from  their 
hands  this  mere  pretence,  if  it  be  no  more  ? 

Withholding  the  public  suffrage  from  duellists,  is  the  only 
method  in  which  there  is  the  least  prospect  of  arresting  the 
practice  of  duelling. 

We  may  reason,  and  ridicule,  and  lament,  and  remonstrate, 
and  threaten,  and  legislate,  and  multiply  penalties,  and  the 
evil  will  still  progress.  Environed  by  the  subtilties  of  law 
and  shielded  by  the  perverted  patronage  of  men  in  office, 
regardless  of  our  grief  and  fearless  of  our  indignation,  they 
will  laugh  at  our  zeal  and  defy  our  efforts.  There  is  no  way 
to  deal  with  these  men,  but  to  make  them  feel  their  depen- 
dence on  the  people ;  and  no  way  to  effect  this,  but  to  take 
the  punishment  of  their  crimes  into  our  own  hands.  Our 
conscience  must  be  the  judge,  and  we  must.ourselves  convict, 
and  fine,  and  disgrace  them  at  the  polls.      Here,  and  no 


51 

where  beside,  will  our  voice  be  heard,  and  our  will  become 
law. 

The  evils  justly  to  be  apprehended  from  the  continuance 
of  duelling,  call  loudly  upon  us  to  awake  in  earnest  to  this 
subject,  and  apply  with  vigor  the  proposed  remedy. 

It  every  year  robs  our  country  of  men  qualified  (this  epi- 
demic madness  excepted)  for  extensive  usefulness.  It  cuts 
down  our  young  men,  and  fills  the  land  with  widows  and 
with  orphans.  The  tax  is  too  heavy  ;  the  victims  ofTered  to 
Moloch  are  too  numerous.  Might  the  evil  however,  be 
confined  to  its  present  limits,  it  would  be  less  intolerable ;  but 
we  have  no  ground  to  indulge  such  a  hope.  In  Europe, 
where  duelling  originated,  the  great  inequality  of  rank 
has  usually  prevented  the  practice  from  descending  to  the 
common  walks  of  life.  It  is  there  the  unenvied  privilege 
of  gre£ft  men  to  kill  one  another.  But  in  our  own  country 
there  is  no  such  barrier.  The  genius  of  our  government 
has  inspired  every  man  with  a  spirit  of  independence 
and  self-importance — a  spirit  desirable  when  duly  regulated, 
but  dreadful  when  perverted,  and,  in  young  men  especially, 
very  liable  to  be  perverted.  We  are  all  honorable  men  ;  and 
if  the  laws  of  the  land  are  insufficient  to  protect  the  reputa- 
tion of  one  man,  they  are  equally  defective  to  all.  If  the 
military  officer,  the  civil  officer  and  the  lawyer  must  take 
the  protection  of  their  reputation  into  their  own  hands,  so 
may  the  merchant,  the  merchant's  clerk,  the  gentleman, 
and  the  gentleman's  son  ;  so  may  the  mechanic,  the  farmer, 
and  the  planter.  And  they  not  only  may,  but  they  will 
do  it,  if  an  end  be  not  put  to  this  lawless  practice.  The 
horrid  evil  will  nof  be  confined  to  cities;  it  will  breakout 
in  the  country.  It  will  stalk  through  our  towns  and  deso- 
late our  villages.  Let  not  these  anticipations  be  deemed 
chimerical ;  they  are  legitimate  inferences  from  the  known 
principles  of  the  human  mind  and  the  peculiar  situation  of 
our  country;  and  they. are  justified  also  by  experience. 
The   mad  example   of  Charles  V.  and   Francis  I.   king  of 


52 

France,  descended  like  a  mighty  torrent  from  the  highest 
elevations  of  rank,  down  to  the  humble  vale  of  private  life. 
Through  all  Europe  the  pulse  of  honor  began  to  throb,  and 
all  orders  of  men  caught  the  fever.  The  nobleman  and  the 
nobleman's  servant,  the  general  and  the  common  soldier,  the 
IsLwyer,  the  merchant,  the  tailor,  and  the  hair-dresser,  be- 
came suddenly  inflated  with  the  inspirations  of  honor.  The 
forms  of  law  were  disregarded  ;  every  man  became  his  own 
judge,  his  own  protector  and  avenger,  until,  in  this  crusade  of 
honor  the  earth  smoked  with  the  blood  of  its  miserable  in- 
habitants. "  Much  of  the  best  blood  in  Christendom  was 
shed,  many  useful  lives  sacrificed,  and  at  some  periods  war 
itself  hath  hardly  been  more  destructive  than  these  private 
contests  of  honor."* 

In  our  own  country  and  by  a  similar  infatuation,  duelling 
is  steadily  progressing  ;  the  example  of  great  men  ar^  rulers 
is  sweeping  all  before  it,  and  is  bending  its  destroying  course 
to  the  vale  of  common  life.  Instances  have  come  to  my 
knowledge  of  challenges  giv^en  by  those  whom  our  grand- 
fathers would  have  called  boys,  to  adjust  by  weapons  of 
death  their  hasty  disputes.  Already,  and  far  remcJte  from 
cities,  does  the  vapor  ot  honor  begin  to  swell  with  fancied 
importance  many  a  stripling — leading  him  to  threaten,  what, 
as  yet,  he  has  not  courage  to  perform.  This  shows  what 
effect  the  frequency  of  the  crime,  and  the  impunity  attending 
it,  is  beginning  to  have  upon  youthful  minds.  The  leaven 
has  begun  to  operate  ;  and  if  no  stop  be  put  to  it,  the  time  is 
not  distant  when  every  petty  quarrel  of  hot-headed  young 
men  must  be  adjusted  by  powder  and  ball.  In  the  southern 
and  western  States  such  events  are  already  frequent.  The 
youth  extensively  are  enrolled  on  the  lists  of  honor,  and  are 
bound  to  attack  and  defend  according  to  its  rules.  Expert- 
ness  in  firing  the  pistol  is  a  qualification  of  indispensable 
attainment ;  and  the  sabbath  is  often  devoted  to  the  most 
christian  employment  of  learning  ta  shoot  expertly. 

*  Russeirs  Modern  Europe. 


63 

The  genius  of  our  government  favors  also,  not  only  the 
descent  of  the  practice,  but  multiplies  to  an  unlimited  extent, 
the  occasions  of  duelling.  Political  disputes  are  the  usual 
provocation.  These  display  their  influence  through  every 
class  of  society.  As  our  country  increases  in  wealth,  luxury 
and  vice ;  as  parties  multiply  and  become  ardent,  these 
controversies  will  naturally  become  more  keen  and  vindic- 
tive, until  duelling  will  become  a  common  alternative ;  until 
elections  shall  turn,  not  on  the  merits  of  the  candidate,  but 
on  his  superior  skill  in  aiming  the  pistol  to  destroy  his  com- 
petitor. I  have  been  assured,  that  already,  in  certain  parts 
of  our  union,  duelling  is  not  an  unknown  expedient  to 
secure  an  election,  by  removing  out  of  the  way  a  rival  can- 
didate. Indeed,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  in  a  public 
paper,  it  has  been  declared,  that  at  a  certain  period  there 
was  a  systematic  scheme  formed  to  take  off  by  duelling 
certain  leading  characters  of  one  political  party,  by  some  of 
the  leading  characters  of  another  political  party.  The  fact 
asserted  is  in  itself  by  no  means  incredible  ;  it  is  a  natural  con- 
sequence of  duelling — just  what  might  be  expected ;  and  the 
duels  which  took  place  about  that  time,  and  the  characters 
engaged,  clothe  the  subject  with  an  air  of  high  probability. 

Nor  are  the  immediate  efl'ects  of  duelling  the  only  conse- 
quences to  be  dreaded.  The  impunity  attending  the  crime, 
the  confidence  reposed  in  duellists,  and  the  honors  bestowed 
upon  them,  contribute  to  diminish  in  the  public  mind  the 
guilt  of  crimes  generally.  There  is  a  relationship  in  crimes 
which  renders  familiarity  with  one,  a  harbinger  to  familiarity 
with  another.  The  wretch  who  has  destroyed  two  or  three 
fellow-creatures  in  a  duel,  will  feel  little  compunction  at  any 
crime.  Nor  can  the  moral  sensibilities  of  a  people  familiar- 
ised to  murder  in  duels,  and  accustomed  to  look  upon  crim- 
inals of  this  description  with  confidence  and  respect,  be  pre- 
served in  full  strength  in  reference  to  other  crimes.  Duelling, 
therefore,  while  it  destroys  directly  its  thousands,  destroys 
by  its  depraving  influence  its  tens  of  thousands. 
8 


64 

The  present  may  be  the  only  lime  in  which  it  shall  be 
practicable  to  suppress  this  great  evil. 

The  practice  of  duelling  is  rapidly  progressing,  dissemi- 
nating its  infection,  and  deadening  the  public  sensibility. 
The  effect  already  is  great  and  alarming.  If  not  so,  why 
does  the  crime  shrink  before  the  stern  justice  of  New  England, 
and  rear  its  guilty  head  in  New  York,  and  stalk  with  bolder 
front  as  you  pass  onward  to  the  South.  If  the  effect  is  not 
great,  why  this  distinction  in  crimes  of  the  same  class — why 
so  alive  to  the  guilt  of  robbery,  assassination,  and  murder  of 
one  kind,  and  so  dead  to  the  guilt  of  duelling  f  If  the  effect 
of  duelling  upon  the  public  mind  is  not  great,  why  is  it  that 
murder  can  be  committed  in  open  day  ;  the  crime  be  made 
notorious,  nay,  proclaimed  in  the  newspaper,  and  the  mur- 
derer remain  unmolested  in  his  dwelling  ?  Why  does  he 
not  flee  f  Why  are  not  rewards  offered  by  those  autho- 
rised by  the  laws,  and  expresses  hastened  in  all  directions 
to  arrest  and  bring  to  justice  the  guilty  fugitive  ?  Because 
no  one  is  enough  shocked  at  his  crime  to  make  these 
exertions.  Because,  if  such  measures  were  taken,  the  public 
mind  would  awake  from  its  torpor — duelling  would  become 
a  disgraceful  crime,  and  the  criminal  would  be  lost  to  himself 
and  to  his  country.  He  could  neither  be  Governor  nor 
Senator  nor  Judge.  He  would  be  exiled  from  public  favor, 
immured  in  a  dungeon,  transported  to  the  gallows,  and 
launched  into  eternity.  If  the  prevalence  of  duelling  has 
not,  and  to  an  awful  degree,  affected  the  public  mind,  why 
such  a  number  of  half  apologists  for  the  crime  ;  and  how  can 
we  so  patiently  hear,  and  candidly  weigh,  and  almost  admit 
their  arguments  ?  Could  you  hear  with  equal  patience 
assassination  justified,  though  (as  it  well  might  be)  by  argu- 
ments equally  conclusive  ?  Why  is  it,  if  this  deadly  evil  has 
not  already  palsied  the  feelings  of  the  community,  that  even 
the  members  of  our  churches  have  heretofore,  with  so  little 
hesitation,  v^oted  for  men  of  blood  ?  Is  Christianity  compati- 
ble   with    murder  ?       Can   you   patronise  the   murderer  by 


55 

granting  him  your  suffrage,  and  not  become  a  partaker  in  his 
sin  ?  Admit  as  the  mildest,  and  as  in  general  the  true  con- 
struction, that  this  has  been  done  by  christians  ignorantly,  not 
knowing  often  that  those  for  whom  they  voted  were  duellists, 
or  inconsiderately,  not  realizing  the  enormity  of  the  crime — 
why  did  they  not  know — why  did  they  not  consider  ?  The 
reason  is  obvious — 

"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mein. 
As,  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen ; 
Yet,  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  her  face. 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 

This  is  precisely  our  alarming  state.  We  have  sunk 
through  all  these  grades  of  moral  degradation.  We  endure, 
we  pity,  we  embrace  murderers.  And  what  will  be  next  ? 
A  total  apathy  to  crime. 

What  is  done,  therefore,  must  be  done  quickly.  Let 
the  maxims  of  duelling  once  break  out,  and  spread  in  the 
country,  and  infect  the  rising  generation  ;  let  the  just  abhor- 
rence of  the  community  be  a  little  more  effaced  by  the 
growing  frequency  of  the  crime,  and  we  are  undone.  There 
will  be  no  place  to  make  a  stand.  Our  liberties  will  be  lost — 
our  bands  will  become  brass,  and  our  fetters  iron — no  man's 
life  will  be  safe — the  laws  of  the  land  will  be  a  nullity — every 
man  must  tremble,  and  walk  softly,  and  speak  softly,  lest  he 
implicate  his  neighbor's  honor,  and  put  in  jeopardy  his  own 
life ;  and  duelling  will  become  as  common,  as  irremediable, 
and  as  little  thought  of,  as  assassination  is  in  Spain,  in  Italy, 
and  South  America. 

Then,  indeed,  will  the  descriptions  of  the  pro])het  be  hor- 
ribly realised.  Judgment  will  he  turned  aioay  backivard — 
justice  ivill  stand  afar  off — truth  ivill  fall  in  the  street,  and 
equity  be  unable  to  enter.  Yea,  truth  ivill  fail,  and  he  that 
departeth  from  evil,  will  make  himself  a  prey.  None  will 
call  for  justice — revenge  and  murder  will  be  the  order  of  the 
day.  We  shall  grope  for  the  wall  as  the  blind — we  shall 
stumble  at  noon  day  as  in  the  night — we  shall  be  in  desolate, 
places  as  dead  men. 


66 

Shall  we  sit  and  calmly  await  the  approach  of  these  evils  ? 
Shall  we  bow  our  neck  to  the  yoke  ?  Shall  we  thrust  our 
hands  into  the  manacles  preparing  for  them  ?  What  if  these 
evils  may  not  be  realized  in  our  day — have  we  no  regard 
to  posterity  f  What  if  every  man,  woman  and  child  may 
not  fall  in  a  duel — is  there  nothing  to  be  dreaded  from  the 
sword,  or  pestilence,  or  famine,  because  they  do  not  extir- 
pate our  race  ? 

The  facihty  with  which,  in  the  way  proposed,  this  evil 
may  be  suppressed,  will  render  us  forever  inexcusable — will 
constitute  us  partakers  in  the  sin,  if  we  do  not  make  the 
attempt. 

There  are,  indeed,  many  duellists  in  our  land,  and  many 
half-apologists  for  the  crime,  from  whom  no  aid  is  to  be 
expected.  There  are  many  too  unprincipled,  and  others 
too  indolent,  to  be  engaged  by  considerations  of  duty  :  and 
there  are  some,  and  even  professors  of  religion,  whose  strong 
party  prejudices,  and  political  attachments  to  duellists,  will 
be  liable  to  steel  them  against  conviction,  or  impel  them  to 
make  shipwreck  of  faith  and  a  good  conscience.  But  after 
all  these  deductions,  there  are  yet  remaining  multitudes, 
thousands  and  thousands,  whose  abhorrence  of  duelling 
though  diminished  by  the  frequency  of  the  crime,  is  still 
sufficient  to  overwhelm  its  abettors  with  infamy.  Nothing 
is  necessary  to  awaken  and  embody  in  one  formidable 
phalanx  of  opposition  the  great  mass  of  our  plain  and  honest 
people,  but  to  place  the  crime  in  its  horrid  aspect  and 
fearful  connexions,  full  before  them.  Only  let  them  see, 
and  they  will  feel — let  them  feel,  and  they  will  act — will 
hurl  indignant,  every  duellist  whom  they  have  elevated  from 
his  eminence,  and  consign  to  merited  infamy  every  one  who 
shall  solicit  their  favor.  Nor  is  it  impracticable  thus  to 
exhibit  the  subject.  Ministers  of  different  denominations, 
all  united,  would  be  able  to  effect  it  perfectly.  Let  each, 
in  his  appointed  sphere,  make  due  exertion  to  enlighten  his 
flock,  and  the  fire   of  indignation  would  soon  begin  to  blaze 


57 

through  all  the  nation.  And  if  beside  such  exertions,  furtlier 
efforts  should  be  needful,  the  newspaper,  the  magazine,  and 
tract,  may  be  enlisted  as  auxiliaries. 

Nor  can  any  reasonably  object  to  such  conduct  on  the 
part  of  ministers  ;  nor  will  any  one  probably  attempt  it,  who 
does  not  for  himself  or  some  favorite,  fear  the  consequences. 
Our  obligations  are  most  solemn  to  lift  up  our  voice,  and  to 
put  forth  our  exertions  against  this  sin.  Our  God  calls  to 
us  from  heaven — the  damned  call  to  us  from  hell — the  blood 
of  murdered  victims  from  the  ground  lifts  up  its  voice  and 
mingles  with  the  cry  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless — the 
example  of  our  Saviour,  of  the  prophets,  of  the  apostles, 
forbids  us  to  be  silent,  or  inactive. 

It  is  in  vain  to  cry  out  "  priest-craft,"  or  "  pohlical 
preaching  ;"  these  watch-words  will  not  answer  here.  The 
crime  we  oppose  is  pecuhar  to  no  party  ;  it  is  common  to 
all.  It  is  a  crime  too  horrid  to  be  palliated,  too  threat- 
ening to  be  longer  endured  in  officers  of  government.  Any 
political  effect  would  be  the  consequence  merely,  not 
the  object  of  our  exertions.  It  would  also  be  small  and 
momentary  ;  but,  should  it  be  great,  such  effect  ought  not  to 
bring  censure  upon  us,  or  alter  the  course  of  our  duty.  If 
we  may  not  denounce  duelling,  because  men  of  political 
eminence  are  guilty  of  the  crime  ;  because  the  enlightening 
of  the  consciences  of  our  people  would  affect  an  election  ; 
every  crime  would  soon  find  a  sanctuary  in  the  example 
of  some  great  politician.  Our  mouths  would  be  shut — we 
might  not  whisper  the  guilt  of  crimes,  lest  by  awakening 
your  consciences,  it  should  produce  some  political  effect. 

It  is  practicable  then,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  ministers  to 
direct  the  attention  of  their  people,  and  arouse  their  just 
indignation  towards  criminals  of  this  description.  Nor  will 
it  be  difficult  for  the  people,  once  awake  and  engaged,  to 
effect  their  purpose. 

If  only  the  members  of  christian  churches  become  deci- 
ded in  their  opposition  to  duelling,  it  will  produce  a  sensation 


58 

through  the  land.  The  votes  of  professing  christians  of 
different  denominations  are  too  numerous  and  important  to 
be  thrown  away. — And  will  not  the  churches  awake  ?  Will 
professors  of  religion,  a  religion  commanding  "  love  to 
enemies,"  and  breathing  "  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to 
men,"  uphold  deliberately,  and  encourage  by  their  suffrage 
the  practice  of  duelling  ?  On  this  ground  only,  a  formidable 
stand  may  be  made. 

But  the  churches  will  not  be  left  to  stand  alone.  In 
every  part  of  the  nation  there  are  multitudes,  conscientious 
and  patriotic,  whose  zealous  co-operation  may  be  expected. 
Voluntary  associations  may  be  formed  ;  correspondences 
may  be  established  ;  and  a  concert  of  action  secured.  And 
even  should  the  contest  be  more  arduous ;  if,  in  the  tempest 
of  an  election  all  these  exertions  should  seem  to  be  swept 
away,  and  religion,  and  conscience,  and  patriotism,  to  be 
lost  in  the  delirium  of  passion  ;  are  there  not  in  every 
church,  and  in  every  congregation,  a  chosen  {ew  who  would 
brave  the  storm ;  whom  no  sophistry  could  deceive,  no 
influence  bend,  and  no  passion  move  from  their  purpose  ? 
Are  there  not  in  every  parish,  at  least  ten  righteous  persons, 
to  avert  the  curse  of  heaven  and  commence  a  reformation  ? 
But  ten  persons  in  every  congregation  in  the  land,  would 
constitute  a  weight  of  influence  ultimately  decisive.  In  a 
government  like  ours,  where  a  State  is  often  almost  equally 
divided,  a  few  thousand  votes  are  too  precious  to  be  lost. 
When,  therefore,  it  comes  once  to  be  known  that  the  fighting 
of  a  duel  is  a  serious  blot  upon  the  character  of  a  candidate, 
and  that  in  every  district  and  in  every  town,  there  are  con- 
siderate and  conscientious  people  who  will  not  vote  for  him, 
parties  will  not  risk  their  cause  upon  the  shoulders  of  such 
men  ;  duellists  will  become  unpopular  candidates  ;  and  those 
will  be  selected,  who  shall  merit,  and   insure   your   suffrage. 

Even  this  county  of  Suffolk*  is  able,  if  disposed,  to  throw 
into  the  scale  an  important  weight  of  influence  against  du- 

*  The  reader  will  recollect  thai  this  discourse  was  delivered  in  Suffolk  county, 
State  of  New-York. 


59 

elling.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  counties  in  the  State,  extensive, 
populous,  united,  and  distinguished  by  its  veneration  for 
religion,  its  strong  attachment  to  liberty,  and  the  honest  and 
peaceable  deportment  of  its  inhabitants.  It  embraces  few, 
if  any  duellists  or  friends  of  duelling.  ]\Iinisters,  magistrates, 
and  people — all,  it  is  presumed,  think  alike  on  this  subject. 
And  beside  these  advantages,  it  has  often,  in  contested 
elections  been  looked  to,  and  may  often  again  be,  as  holding 
in  some  measure  the  balance  of  the  State.  With  these 
advantages,  it  may  speak  and  be  heard.  Let  it  be  known 
that  even  one  county  will  not  uphold  despotism  and  murder, 
and  the  names  of  despots  and  murderers  will  no  longer 
disgrace  your  tickets  of  suffrage.  The  fighting  of  a  duel  will 
become  a  disgrace — a  millstone  about  the  neck  of  aspiring 
ambition. 

You  have  often  lamented  the  prevalence  of  duelling,  but 
have  not  known  how,  as  individuals,  to  do  any  thing  to  arrest 
the  evil.  Now,  you  perceive  what  you  can  do.  The  reme- 
dy is  before  you,  it  is  simple,  and  easy,  and  certain  ;  and 
if  you  do  not  apply  it,  if  you  continue  to  vote  for  duellists 
and  thus  to  uphold  the  crime,  you  are  partakers  in  the  sin, 
and  accountable  for  all  the  evils  which  will  ensue,  and  which 
you  may  now  so  easily  prevent. 

Finally,  the  appointment  of  duellists  to  office  will  justly 
offend  the  Most  High,  and  assuredly  call  down  upon  us  the 
judgments  of  heaven. 

Duelling  is  a  great  national  sin; -with  the  exception  of  a 
small  section  of  the  union,  the  whole  land  is  defiled  with 
blood.  From  the  lakes  of  the  north  to  the  plains  of  Georgia 
is  heard  the  voice  of  lamentation  and  wo  ;  the  cries  of  the 
widow  and  "the  fatherless.  This  work  of  desolation  is  per- 
formed often  by  men  in  office — by  the  appointed  guardians 
of  life  and  liberty.  On  the  floor  of  Congress,  challenges 
have  been  threatened,  if  not  given  ;  and  thus  powder  and  ball 
have  been  introduced  as  the  auxiliaries  of  deliberation  and 
argument.     Oh,  tell  it   not  in   Gath,  publish   it  not  in    the 


60 

streets  of  Askelon  !  Alas  !  it  is  too  late  to  conceal  our  infamy ; 
the  sun  hath  shined  on  our  guilt,  and  the  eye  of  God  with 
brighter  beams  surveys  the  whole.  He  beholds  and  he  will 
punish.  His  quiver  is  full  of  arrows,  his  sword  is  impatient 
of  confinement ;  ten  thousand  plagues  stand  ready  to  exe- 
cute his  wrath  ;  conflagration,  tempest,  earthquake,  war, 
famine  and  pestilence  wait  his  command  only  to  cleanse  the 
land  from  blood ;  to  involve  in  one  common  ruin,  both  the 
murderer  and  those  who  tolerate  his  crimes.  Atheists  may 
scoff,  but  there  is  a  God — a  God  who  governs  the  earth  in 
righteousness — an  avenger  of  crimes — the  supporter  and 
destroyer  of  nations.  And  as  clay  is  in  the  hand  of  the  pot- 
ter, so  are  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  the  hand  of  God.  At 
what  instant  he  speaks  concerning  a  nation,  to  pluck  /jp,  to 
pull  down,  and  destroy  it ;  if  that  nation  repent,  God  will 
avert  the  impending  judgment.  And  at  what  instant  he  shall 
speak  concerning  a  nation,  to  build  and  to  plant  it,  if  it  do 
evil  in  his  sight,  he  will  arrest  the  inteiided  blessing  and  send 
forth  judgments  in  its  stead.  Be  not  deceived — the  greater 
our  present  mercies  and  seeming  security,  the  greater  is  the 
guilt  of  our  rebellion,  and  the  more  certain,  swift,  and  awful, 
will  be  our  calamity.  We  are  murderers,  a  nation  of  mur- 
derers, while  we  tolerate  and  reward  the  perpetrators  of  the 
crime.  And  shall  I  not  visit  for  these  things,  saith  the  Lord  ? 
Shall  not  my  soul  be  avenged  on  such  a  nation  as  this  ? 

But,  it  will  be  said,  especially  in  cases  of  contested  elections, 
if  you  refuse  to  vote  for  this  man  because  he  is  a  duellist,  his 
opponent,  a  worse  man  will  come  in. 

A  worse  man  cannot  come  in.  The  duellist  is  a  murderer  ; 
and  is  a  man's  difference  from  you  in  political  opinion  more 
criminal  than  murder.^  And  will  you  vote  for  a» murderer,  a 
despot,  proud,  haughty  and  revengeful,  to  keep  out  another 
man,  perhaps  equally  qualified  and  of  a  fair  fame,  merely 
because  he  thinks  not  in  politics  exactly  as  you  do  ?  To 
what  will  such  bigotry  lead  ?  There  will  soon  be  no  crime 
too  gross  to  be  overlooked   by  party  men  ;  and  no  criminal 


61 

too  loathsome  and  desperate  to  float  into  office  on  the  tide 
of  party.  When  the  violence  of  competition  rises  so  high  in 
our  country,  as  to  lead  parties  in  their  struggles  for  victory 
to  tread  down  the  laws  of  God,  disregarding  entirely  the 
moral  characters  of  candidates  for  office  ;  if  their  being  on 
our  side  will  sanctify  their  crimes,  and  push  them  reeking 
with  blood  into  office  ;  the  time  is  not  distant  when  we  shall 
have  no  liberties  to  protect.  Such  a  people  are  too  wicked 
to  be  free,  and  God  will  curse  them,  by  leaving  them  to  eat  of 
the  fruit  of  their  way. 

But  suppose  the  opponent  of  the  duellist,  beside  his  politi- 
cal heresy,  to  be  a  bad  man  also,  and  guilty  of  the  same 
crime  ?  If  I  do  not  vote  for  the  man  on  my  side  in  politics, 
will  not  this  be  helping  his  antagonist,  and  will  not  this  be  as 
bad  as  if  I  voted  directly  t  No.  You  are  accountable  for 
your  own  conduct  only.  If  other  people  put  into  office  a  bad 
man,  whom  you  could  not  keep  out  but  by  voting  for  one 
equally  bad,  for  their  conduct  you  are  not  accountable.  It 
is  certainly  a  different  thing  whether  a  vile  man  comes  into 
power  by  your  agency  directly,  or  in  spite  of  it.  But 
suppose  the  duellist,  in  all  respects  excepting  this  crime, 
is  a  better  man  than  his  opponent,  of  two  evils  may  we 
not  choose  the  least  ?  Yes,  of  two  natural  evils  you  may ; 
if  you  must  lose  a  finger  or  an  arm,  cut  off  the  finger  ; 
but  of  two  sinful  things  you  may  choose  neither ;  and  there- 
fore, you  may  not  vote  for  one  bad  man,  a  murderer, 
to  keep  out  another  bad  man,  though  even  a  worse  one. 
It  is  to  do  evil,  that  good  may  come  ;  and  of  all  who  do 
this  the  apostle  declares,  "  their  damnation  is  just."  What 
must  we  do  then  in  those  cases  where  the  character  of 
the  candidates  are  such,  as  that  it  would  be  sinful  to 
vote  for  either  of  them  .''  Vote  for  neither,  and  in  future 
you  will  not  be  insulted  by  such  candidates  for  suffi-age. 
Let  those  who  stand  behind  the  curtain  and  move  the 
springs,  know  that  you  have  consciences,  and  that  you  will 
9 


62 

be  guided  by  them ;  and  they  will  take  care  that  you  shall 
not  be  compelled  to  throw  away  your  votes. 

But  perhaps  the  liberties  of  our  country  are  at  stake — 
might  we  not  for  once,  and  on  such  an  emergency,  vote  for  a 
duellist  ?  The  same  song  has  been  sung  at  every  election 
these  twenty  years,  and  by  each  party.  It  is  an  electioneering 
trick  to  excite  your  fears,  to  awaken  your  prejudices,  to 
inflame  your  passions,  to  overpower  your  consciences,  and  to 
get  your  vote  whether  right  or  wrong. 

But  suppose  your  liberties  are  in  danger  ;  if  they  are  so 
far  gone,  as  to  depend  on  the  election  Of  one  man,  and  that 
man  a  tyrant — a  murderer — they  are  gone  irretrievably. 
Beside  the  absurdity  of  appointing  a  murderer  to  protect  life, 
and  a  despot  to  protect  liberty,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
God  is  our  only  efficient  protector.  Men  are  merely  instru- 
ments ;  but  will  God  bless  such  instruments,  selected  in 
contempt  of  his  authority,  and  rescued  from  the  sword  of 
his  justice  f  All  attempts  to  avert  perdition  by  means  at 
war  with  the  precepts  of  heaven,  will  prove  abortive  ;  you 
hatch  the  cockatrice  egg,  and  weave  the  web  of  the  spider. 
If  your  liberties  are  in  danger,  reform — pray — and  call  to 
your  aid  men  of  rectitude,  men  of  clean  hands,  whose  coun- 
sels God  may  be  expected  to  bless. 

'  But  it  is  difficult  to  know  in  all  cases  who  are  good 
men.'  True  ;  and  will  you  therefore  vote  for  those  whom 
you  know  to  be  bad  men  ^  Rather  discard  those  whom  you 
know  to  be  bad,  and  scrutinize  critically  the  characters 
of  those  who  profess  to  be  good,  and  after  your  utmost  care, 
you  will  be  sufficiently  exposed  to  deception. 

But  the  reply  is  ever  at  hand,  '  If  they  will  fight,  let  them 
fight  and  kill  each  other  ;  the  sooner  we  get  rid  of  them  the 
better.'  And  are  you  prepared  to  intrust  your  lives  and  all 
dear  to  you,  to  such  men ;  to  men  whom  you  confess  to  be 
a  nuisance,  and  whose  death  would  be  a  public  blessing  ? 
Beside,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  killing  all ;  the  example 
of  the  duellist  is  a  wide-spreading   contagion.     Every  duel 


63 

that  is  fought  insph-es  twenty,  perhaps  an  hundred,  with  the 
same  accursed  frenzy ;  and  the  blood  of  duelHsts  is  the 
seed  of  dueUing,  as  really,  as  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  was 
the  seed  of  the  church. 

*  But  why  so  inveterate  against  duelling  in  particular  ?' 
Because,  at  present,  it  is  a  great  and  alarming  national  sin  ; 
because  no  other  crime  with  such  shameless  effrontery,  bids 
defiance  to  the  laws  of  God  and  man  ;  because  no  other 
crime  is  so  palliated,  justified,  and  with  such  impunity  sanc- 
tioned by  the  example  of  the  great ;  and,  of  course,  no  other 
crime  has  so  alarming  an  aspect  upon  the  principles  of  our 
young  men,  and  the  moral  sensibilities  of  our  country.  I 
may  add,  that  no  other  description  of  criminals,  if  they  escape 
with  impunity,  may  publish  their  crimes,  glory  in  their 
shame,  and  still  be  rewarded  with  the  confidence  and  honors 
of  their  country. — The  crisis  is  an  awful  one  ;  and  this 
apathy  to  a  crime  of  the  deepest  dye,  is  a  prelude  of  ap- 
proaching death.  But,  though  there  is  a  peculiar  reason  for 
attempting  to  arouse  the  listless  attention  of  the  publicto  this 
sin,  there  are  decisive  objections  to  the  appointment  to  office 
of  any  immoral  man.  The  prodigal,  the  drunkard,  the 
profane,  the  Sabbath-breaker,  the  adulterer,  the  gambler, 
are  all  disqualified  to  act  as  legislators ;  and  no  man  with 
an  enlightened  conscience,  can  vote  for  them. 

'  But  if  we  are  so  critical  in  our  scrutiny  of  character,  wo 
shall  never  be  able  to  find  men  duly  qualified  to  manage  our 
affairs.'  Most  humiliating  confession  !  But  how  has  it 
come  to  pass  (if  true)  that  so  many  public  characters  arc 
immoral  men  ?  It  is  because  we,  the  people,  have  not  even 
requested  them  to  behave  better.  We  have  never  made  it 
necessary  for  them  to  be  moral.  We  have  told  them,  and 
we  have  told  our  youth  who  are  rising  to  active  life,  that 
private  character  is  a  useless  thing,  as  it  respects  the  attain- 
ment of  our  suffrage.  We  have  told  them,  that,  if  they 
pleased,  they  might  associate  for  drunkenness  and  midnigiit 
revelry,    pour    contempt    upon    the    institutions  of   religion, 


64 

neglect  the  worship  of  God,  and  spend  the  Sabbath  in 
gambling  and  intemperance,  and  still  be  esteemed  hallowed 
patriots.  If  it  be  true,  that  a  strict  scrutiny  of  character  would 
exile  from  office  many  who  now  fill  public  stations,  it  is  our 
criminal  negligence  that  has  brought  this  to  pass.  But  the 
inference,  that  setting  up  moral  character  as  a  test  would 
leave  us  destitute  of  proper  candidates,  is  groundless — it  is 
the  very  way  to  multiply  them.  Let  it  once  be  made  known, 
that  a  fair  private  character  is  indispensable  to  the  attain- 
ment of  public  suffrage,  and  reformations  will  take  place. 
And  besides  this,  our  young  men  will  be  growing  up  to 
habits  of  virtue  under  the  guardian  influence  of  this  restraint. 
At  first,  you  may  encounter  a  little  self-denial,  by  dismissing 
men  of  irregular  lives  in  whom  you  have  been  accustomed 
to  confide.  But  their  places  will  soon  be  supplied  by  an 
host  of  men  of  fair  fame,  and  better  qualified  to  serve  their 
country. 

But,  allowing  that  a  proper  exercise  of  suffrage  would 
restrain  from  the  practice  of  fighting  duels  all  actually  con- 
cerned, or  expecting  to  be  concerned  in  civil  life  5  how 
should  this  reclaim  those  who  have  no  such  expectation,  and 
are  no  way  affected  by  the  votes  of  the  people  ?  How 
would  it  restrain  military  and  naval  officers,  men  usually 
the  most  addicted  to  the  crime  ? 

Ans.  1.  The  prospect  of  success,  though  an  encourage- 
ment, is  not  the  chief  ground  of  obligation  to  withhold  our 
votes  from  duellists.  It  is  sinful  to  vote  for  them,  even 
though  withholding  our  votes  would  not  reclaim  an  individual. 

2.  If  the  method  proposed  would  reclaim  even  men  im- 
mediately concerned,  or  expecting  to  be  concerned  in  gov- 
ernment, the  good  effected  would  be  great.  Laws  do  much 
good,  although  they  do  not  entire!}^  extinguish  crimes. 

3.  The  example  of  men  in  civil  life,  subtracted  from  the 
support  of  this  crime  and  arrayed  against  it,  would  render 
the  practice  dishonorable  among  gentlemen  of  every  de- 
scription.    Military  officers   are  citizens,  as  well  as  officers  ; 


65 

and  that  conduct  which  is  deemed  disgraceful  by  gentlemen 
in  civil  life,  will  soon  be  felt  to  be  such,  and  will  be  abandon- 
ed by  military  and  naval  officers.  And  were  such  an  effect 
less  certain,  it  might  be  made  certain  by  the  exercise  of  that 
discretion  which  the  civil  ruler  possesses  in  the  appointment 
of  officers.  Let  our  legislators  cease  to  fight  duels,  and 
desire  to  extinguish  the  practice  of  duelling,  and  they  would 
soon  fill  the  army  and  the  navy  with  commanders,  who  would 
be  disposed,  and  able,  to  second  their  views. 

And  now  let  me  ask  you  solemnly ;  with  these  considera- 
tions in  view,  will  you  persist  in  your  attachment  to  these 
guilty  men  ?  Will  you  any  longer,  either  deliberately  or 
thoughtlessly  vote  for  them  ?  Will  you  renounce  allegiance 
to  your  Maker,  and  cast  the  Bible  behind  your  back  ?  Will 
you  confide  in  men,  void  of  the  fear  of  God  and  destitute  of 
moral  principle  ?  Will  you  intrust  life  to  murderers,  and 
liberty  to  despots  ?  Are  you  patriots,  and  will  you  consti- 
tute those  legislators,  who  despise  you,  and  despise  equal 
laws,  and  wage  war  with  the  eternal  principles  of  justice  ? 
Are  you  christians,  and,  by  upholding  duellists,  will  you  de- 
luge the  land  with  blood,  and  fill  it  with  widows  and  with 
orphans  ?  Will  you  aid  in  the  prostration  of  justice — in  the 
escape  of  criminals — in  the  extinction  of  liberty  ?  Will  you 
place  in  the  chair  of  state — in  the  senate — or  on  the  bench 
of  justice,  men  who,  if  able,  would  murder  you  for  speaking 
truth  ?  Shall  your  elections  turn  on  expert  shooting,  and 
your  deliberative  bodies  become  an  host  of  armed  men  ? 
Will  you  destroy  public  morality  by  tolerating,  yea,  by  re- 
warding the  most  infamous  crimes  ?  Will  you  teach  your 
children  that  there  is  no  guilt  in  murder  ?  Will  you  instruct 
them  to  think  lightly  of  duelling,  and  train  them  up  to  de- 
stroy or  be  destroyed  in  the  bloody  field  ?  Will  you  be- 
stow your  suffi-age,  when  you  know  that  by  withholding 
it  you  may  arrest  this  deadly  evil — when  this  too  is  the 
only  way  in   which  it  can  be  done,  and  when  the  present  is 


66 

perhaps  the  only  period  in  which  resistance  can  avail — 
when  the  remedy  is  so  easy,  so  entirely  in  your  power ; 
and  when  God,  if  you  do  not  punish  these  guilty  men, 
will  most  inevitably  punish  you  ? 

If  the  widows  and  the  orphans,  which  this  wasting  evil 
has  created  and  is  yearly  multiplying  might  all  stand  before 
you,  could  you  witness  their  tears,  or  listen  to  their  details  of 
anguish  ?  Should  they  point  to  the  murderers  of  their 
fathers,  their  husbands,  and  their  children,  and  lift  up  their 
voice,  and  implore  your  aid  to  arrest  an  evil  which  had  made 
them  desolate,  could  you  disregard  their  cry  ?  Before 
their  eyes  could  you  approach  the  poll,  and  patronize  by  your 
vote  the  destroyers  of  their  peace  ?  Had  you  beheld  a  dying 
father  conveyed  bleeding  and  agonizing  to  his  distracted 
family,  had  you  heard  their  piercing  shrieks  and  witnessed 
their  frantic  agony  ;  would  you  reward  the  savage  man  who 
had  plunged  them  in  distress  ?  Had  the  duellist  destroyed 
your  neighbor — had  your  own  father  been  killed  by  the  man 
who  solicits  your  suffrage — had  j^our  son,  laid  low  by  his 
hand,  been  brought  to  your  door  pale  in  death  and  welter- 
ing in  blood — would  you  then  think  the  crime  a  small  one  ? 
Would  you  honor  with  your  confidence,  and  elevate  to 
power  by  your  vote,  the  guilty  monster  ?  And  what  would 
you  think  of  your  neighbors,  if,  regardless  of  your  agony, 
they  should  reward  him  ?  And  yet,  such  scenes  of  unut- 
terable anguish  are  multiplied  every  year.  Every  year  the 
dueUist  is  cutting  down  the  neighbor  of  somebody.  Every 
year,  and  many  times  in  the  year,  a  father  is  brought  dead 
or  dying  to  his  family,  or  a  son  laid  breathless  at  the  feet 
of  his  parents ;  and  every  year  you  are  patronizing  by  your 
votes  the  men  who  commit  these  crimes,  and  looking  with 
cold  indifference  upon,  and  even  mocking,  the  sorrows  of 
your  neighbor.  Beware — I  admonish  you  to  beware,  and 
especially  such  of  you  as  have  promising  sons  preparing  for 
active  life,  lest,  having  no  feeling  for  the  sorrows  of  another, 
you  be  called  to  weep  for  your  own  sorrow  ;  lest  your  sons 


67 

fall  by  the  hand  of  the  very  murderer  for  whom  you  vote,  or 
by  the  hand  of  some  one  whom  his  example  has  trained  to 
the  work  of  blood. 

With  such  considerations  before  you,  why  do  you  wish 
to  vote  for  such  men  ?  What  have  they  done  for  you,  what 
can  they  do,  that  better  men  cannot  as  happily  accomplish  ? 
And  will  you  incur  all  this  guilt,  and  hazard  all  these  con- 
sequences for  nothing  ?  Have  you  no  religion,  no  con- 
science, no  love  to  your  country,  no  attachment  to  liberty, 
no  humanity,  no  sympathy,  no  regard  to  your  own  welfare 
in  this  life,  and  no  fear  of  consequences  in  the  life  to  come  ? 
Oh,  my  countrymen,  awake  !  Awake  to  crimes  which  are 
your  disgrace — to  miseries  which  know  not  a  limit — to 
judgments  which  will  make  you   desolate. 


SERMON  III. 


A  REFORMATION  OF  MORALS  PRACTICABLE  AND  INDIS- 
PENSABLE. 


EzEKiEL,  xxxiii.  10. 


Therefore,  0  thou  son  of  man,  speak  unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  thus  ye 
speak,  saying,  if  our  transgressions  and  our  sins  be  upon  us,  and  we  pine 
away  in  them,  how  should  we  then  live  ? 

At  the  time  this  direction  was  given  to  the  prophet,  the 
nation  of  Israel  had  become  very  wicked,  and  were  suffering 
in  captivity  the  punishment  of  their  sins  ;  and  yet  they  did 
not  reform.  They  affected  to  doubt  whether,  if  they  did 
reform,  the  Most  High  would  pardon  them  ;  and  if  he  would, 
it  would  afford  them  no  consolation,  for  reformation,  they 
insisted,  had  become  hopeless.  "  Our  transgressions  and 
our  sins  be  upon  us,  and  we  pine  away  in  them,  how  should 
we  then  live  .'"'  The  burden  has  increased,  until  we  are 
crushed  beneath  it — the  disease  has  progressed,  until  it  has 
become  incurable. 

They  were  correct  in  the  inference  that  if  they  did  not 
reform  they  must  die  ;  but  they  erred  lamentably  in  the 
conclusion  that  reformation  was  hopeless. 

To  wipe  off  such  an  aspersion  from  his  character,  and  to 
banish  from  the  minds  of  his  people  such  desponding  appre- 


69 

hensions,  the  Most  High  condescends  to  expostulate  with 
them.  Have  T  any  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth  ? 
Is  it  my  fault,  that  nations  are  wicked  ?  Do  I  constrain  them 
to  sin,  or  prevent  their  reformation  ?  As  I  live,  saith  the 
Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked  ;  but 
that  the  wicked  turn  from  his  way  and  live  :  "  turn  ye,  turn 
ye  from  your  evil  ways;  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of 
Israel  ?" 

We  are  brought,  therefore,  by  the  text  and  its  connexions, 
to  the  doctrine. 

That  a  w'ork  of  reformation,  in  a  time  of  great 

MORAL  declension,  IS  A  DIFFICULT,  BUT  BY  NO  MEANS 
AN    IMPRACTICABLE    WORK.  » 

In  the  illustration  of  this  doctrine,  it  is  proposed  to  con- 
sider, 

I.  Some  of  the  difficulties,  which  may  be  expected  to 
impede  a  work  of  reformation. 

II.  Show  that  such  a  work  is,  notwithstanding,  entirely 
practicable. 

III.  Consider  some  of  the  ways,  in  which  it  may  be  suc- 
cessfully attempted.     And 

IV.  The  motives  to  immediate  exertion. 

With  respect  to  the  difficulties  which  may  be  expected  to 
attend  a  work  of  reformation,  one  obvious  impediment  will 
be  found  in  "the  number  and  character  of  those  who  must 
be  immediately  affected  by  such  a  work. 

The  sons  of  Belial,  in  a  time  of  declension,  are  numerous 
and  daring.  Emboldened  by  impunity,  they  have  declared 
themselves  independent  both  of  God  and  man,  and  are 
leagued  by  a  common  interest  and  a  common  feeling,  to 
defend  their  usurped  immunities.  The_y  are  watchful  and 
zealous ;  and  the  moment  an  effort  is  made  to  execute  the 
10 


70 

laws,  every  mouth  is  open  against  the  work ;  and  their 
clamors,  and  sneers,  and  threatenings,  and  hes,  like  the 
croakings  of  Egypt,  fill  the  land. 

This  direct  opposition,  may  be  expected  to  receive  from 
various  sources  collateral  aid.  In  this  wicked  world,  where 
the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  evil,  there  are  not  a  few  who 
traffic  in  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men.  Not  immoral  always, 
in  their  own  conduct,  they  thrive  by  the  vices  of  other  men  ; 
and  may  be  tempted  to  resist  a  reformation  which  would 
dry  up  these  impure  sources  of  revenue.  They  would  not 
justify  intemperance,  nor  the  means  of  promoting  it ;  but 
pretexts  are  never  wanting  to  conceal  the  real  motives  of 
men,  and  justify  opposhion  to  whatever  they  deem  inconsist- 
ent with  their  interest.  Though  reformation,  therefore, 
might  be  admitted  to  be  desirable,  either  the  motives  of 
those  who  make  the  attempt,  or  the  means  by  which  they 
make  it,  will  always  be  wrong ;  and  it  will  be  impossible 
ever  to  devise  a  right  way,  till  their  interest  is  on  the  other 
side.  In  many  cases,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  integrity  would 
get  the  victory  over  cupidity  ;  but  in  many  more,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  that  avarice,  secretly  or  openly,  would  send  recruits 
to  the  standard  of  opposition. 

This  phalanx  may  receive  some  augmentation  from  those, 
whose  pride  may  be  wounded  through  the  medium  of  their 
unhappy  relatives.  They  could  endure  to  see  them  live  in 
infamy,  and  die  in  despair,  while  they  shrink  from  the  im- 
agined disgrace  of  applying  a  remedy  which  may  rescue 
the  victim,  or  limit  the  influence  of  his  pestilent  example. 
How  long  shall  it  be,  ere  men  will  learn  that  sm  is  infamy, 
and  that  reformation  is  glory  and  honor  ! 

To  the  preceding,  must  be  added  the  opposition  of  all  the 
timid,  falsely  called,  peace  makers. 

They  lament  bitterly  the  prevailing  evils  of  the  day,  and 
multiply  predictions  of  divine  judgments  and  speedy  ruin  ; 
but  if  a  voice  be  raised,  or  a  finger  be  lifted  to  attempt  a 
reformation,  they  ar^  in  a  tremor  lest  the  peace  of  society  be 


71 

invaded.  Their  maxim  would  seem  to  be,  '  better  to  die 
in  sin,  if  we  may  but  die  quietly,  than  to  purchase  life  and 
honor  by  contending  for  them.'  If  men  will  be  wicked,  let 
them  be  wicked,  if  they  will  but  be  peaceable.  But  the 
mischief  is,  men  freed  from  restraint  will  be  wicked,  and  will 
not  be  peaceable.  No  method  can  be  devised  more  ef- 
fectual to  destroy  the  peace  of  society,  than  tamely  to  give 
up  the  laws  to  conciliate  the  favor  of  the  flagitious.  Like 
the  tribute  paid  by  the  degenerate  Romans  to  purchase 
peace  of  the  northern  barbarians,  every  concession  will  in- 
crease the  demand,  and  render  resistance  more  hopeless. 

Another  class  of  men  will  encamp  very  near  the  enemy, 
through  mere  love  of  ease. 

They  would  have  no  objection  that  vice  should  be  sup- 
pressed and  good  morals  promoted,  if  these  events  would 
come  to  pass  of  their  own  accord  ;  but,  when  the  question  is 
asked,  '  What  must  be  done  r"  this  talk  of  action  is  a 
terrific  thing  ;  and  if,  in  their  panic,  they  go  not  over  to  the 
enemy,  it  is  only  because  the  enemy  also  demands  courage 
and  enterprize.  In  this  dilemma,  it  is  judged  expedient  to 
put  in  requisition  the  resources  of  wisdom,  and  gravely  to 
caution  against  rashness,  and  innovation,  and  zeal  without 
knowledge,  until  all  about  them  are  persuaded  that  the 
safest,  and  wisest,  and  easiest  way,  is  to  do  nothing. 

There  is  another  class  of  men,  not  too  indolent,  but  too 
exclusively  occupied  with  schemes  of  personal  enterprise,  to 
bestow  their  time  or  labor  upon  plans  which  regard  only  the 
general  good. 

If  their  fields  bring  forth  abundantly,  if  their  profession  be 
lucrative,  if  they  can  buy,  and  sell,  and  get  gain,  it  is  enough. 
Society  must  take  care  of  itself.  Distant  consequences  are 
not  regarded,  and  generations  to  come  must  provide  for 
their  own  safety.  The  stream  of  business  hurries  them  on 
without  the  leisure  of  a  moment,  or  an  anxious  thought 
concerning  the  general  welfare. 

Another  impediment  to  be   apprehended  when  the  work 


72 

of  reformation  is  attempted,  is  found  in  the  large  territory  of 
neutral  ground,  which,  on  such  occasions,  is  often  very 
populous. 

Many  would  engage  in  the  enterprise  cheerfully,  were 
they  quite  certain  it  could  be  done  with  perfect  safety. 
But  perhaps  it  may  injure  their  interest,  or  affect  their 
popularity.  They  take  their  stand  therefore,  on  this  safe 
middle  ground — tliey  will  not  oppose  the  work,  for  perhaps 
it  may  be  popular ;  and  they  will  not  help  the  work,  for 
perhaps  it  may  be  unpopular.  They  wait  therefore,  till 
they  perceive  whether  Israel  or  Anialek  prevail,  and  then, 
with  much  self  complacency,  fall  in  on  the  popular  side. 
This  neutral  territory  is  especially  large  in  a  republican 
government,  where  so  much  emolument  and  the  gratification 
of  so  much  ambition  depend  upon  the  suffrages  of  the 
people.  It  requires  no  deep  investigation  to  make  it  mani- 
fest to  the  candidate  for  suffrage,  that  if  he  lend  his  influence 
to  prevent  travelling  on  the  sabbath,  the  sabbath-breaker 
will  not  vote  for  him  ;  if  he  lay  his  hand  upon  tippling  sho|)s 
and  drunkards,  the  whole  suffrage  of  those  who  are  impli- 
cated will  be  turned  against  him.  Hence,  many  who  should 
be  a  terror  to  evil  doers,  will  bear  the  sword  in  vain.  They 
will  persuade  themselves  that  theirs  is  a  peculiar  case  ;  and 
that  it  is  not  best  for  them  to  volunteer  in  the  work  of 
reformation. 

To  reduce  the  power  of  this  temptation,  it  may  be  laid 
down  as  a  maxim,  that  when  the  toleration  of  crimes  be- 
comes the  price  of  public  suffrage,  when  the  people  will  not 
endure  the  restraint  of  righteous  laws,  but  will  reward  mag- 
istrates who  violate  their  oath  and  suffer  them  to  sin  with 
impunity,  and  when  magistrates  will  sell  their  consciences 
and  the  public  good  for  a  little  brief  authority,  then  the 
public  suffrage  is  of  but  little  value,  for  the  day  of  hberty  is 
drawing  to  a  close,  and  the  night  of  despotism  is  at  hand. 
The  people  are  prepared  to  become  slaves  ;  and  the  flagi- 
tious to  usurp  the   government,   and  rule  them  with  a  rod  of 


73 

iron.  No  compact  formed  by  man  is  more  unhallowed  or 
pernicious,  than  this  tacit  compact  between  rulers  and  the 
people  to  dispense  with  the  laws,  and  tolerate  crimes. 

In  the  midst  of  these  difficulties,  there  are  not  a  few  who 
greatly  magnify  them  by  despondency.  Like  die  captive 
Israelites,  they  sit  down,  and  fold  their  hands,  and  sigh,  and 
weep,  and  wish  that  something  might  be  done,  but  inculcate 
unceasingly  the  disheartening  prediction,  that  nothing  can  be 
done.  "  Jt  is  a  land  that  eateth  up  the  inhabitants  thereof ; 
and  all  the  people  that  we  saw  in  it  are  men  of  a  great 
stature.  And.  there  ive  saw  the  giants,  the  sons  of  Anak, 
xohich  come  of  the  giants  ;  and  we  were  in  our  own  sight  as 
grasshoppers,  and  so  we  were  in  their  sight."  Because  the 
work  cannot  be  done  at  once,  they  conclude  that  it  can 
never  be  done.  Because  all  that  might  be  desirable  cannot, 
perhaps  ever,  be  obtained,  they  conclude  that  nothing  can 
be  obtained.  Talk  of  reformation,  and  the  whole  nation 
with  all  its  crimes  rises  up  before  them,  and  fills  them  with 
dismay  and  despair.  It  seems  never  to  have  occurred  to 
them,  that  if  we  cannot  do  great  good,  it  is  best  to  do  a  little  ; 
and  that,  by  accomplishing  with  persevering  industry  all 
that  is  practicable,  the  ultimate  amount  may  be  great,  sur- 
passing expectation. 

There  is  yet  another  class  of  people  who  by  no  means 
despair  of  deliverance,  but  they  have  no  conception  that 
human  exertion  will  be  of  much  avail.  '  If  we  are  delivered, 
God  must  deliver  us,  and  we  must  pray  and  wait,  till  it 
shall  please  him  to  come  and  save  us.'  But,  upon  this 
principle  we  may  pray  and  wait  forever,  and  the  Lord 
will  not  come.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  a  kingdom  of 
ineans,  and  though  the  excellency  of  the  power  belongs 
to  him  exclusively,  human  instrumentality  is  indispensable. 

It  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  some  may  be  aroused 
to  oppose  any  special  efforts  at  reformation,  merely  from  their 
novelty.  It  is  lamentable  that  such  efforts  should  be  a  novelty 
in  a  world,  where  they  are  always    so    necessary  to    keep 


74 

back  the  encroachments  of  vice — but  so  it  is.  If  the  exer- 
tions, however  good  and  proper,  have  not  been  made  before, 
it  seems  to  be  with  some  a  vahd  reason  why  they  never  should 
be  made. — '  What  new  thing  is  this  ?  Did  our  fathers  ever  do 
so  f  They  had  not  the  same  occasion.  But  because  they  did 
not  make  special  efforts  to  repel  an  enemy  which  did  not 
assail  tliem,  shall  we  neglect  to  resist  an  enemy  which  is 
pouring  in  like  a  flood,  and  threatening  to  sweep  us  away  ? 
There  are  some  who  look  with  cold  philosophic  eye  upon 
the  progress  of  crimes,  as  a  part  of  that  great  course  of 
events  which  will  roll  on  resistless  in  spite  of  human  en- 
deavor. And  we  know,  that  the  genius  of  the  government, 
the  progress  of  science,  and  the  refinement  of  wealth  and 
luxury,  wnll  draw  after  them  a  train  of  consequences  which 
no  human  efforts  can  prevent.  But  are  these  consequences 
evil  only  ?  Are  not  certain  vices  left  behind  in  the  rude 
age,  and  certain  virtues  produced  by  the  age  of  refine- 
ment ?  If  there  be  greater  facilities  of  committing  crimes, 
are  there  not  also  increased  facilities  of  preventing  them  ? 
And  if  the  balance  be,  on  the  whole,  against  us,  is  this  an 
argument  that  w-e  can  do  nothing  ;  or  only  that  we  should 
double  our  diligence  as  dangers  increase  ?  Because  nations 
have  not  resisted  this  tide  of  human  events,  does  it  follow 
that  it  cannot  be  resisted  ?  May  not  the  deleterious  causes 
be  modified  and  counteracted,  and  their  results  delayed, 
if  not  averted  ?  Will  the  christian  religion  and  its  insti- 
tutions exert  no  saving  influence  in  our  favor  ?  Because 
Greece  and  Rome  who  had  not  this  precious  system,  per- 
ished by  their  vices,  is  it  certain  that  nations  must  perish 
now,  who  experience  its  preserving  influence  ?  We  have 
seen  w'hat  idols  can  do,  and  we  have  before  us  the  results 
of  atheism.  Let  us  now,  with  double  diligence  water  the 
tree  whose  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations  ;  and  not 
despair  of  its  restoring  influence,  till  the  experiment  has  been 
faithfully  made  and  has  failed. 

But  not  a  few,  after  all,  it  may  be  feared,  will  stand  aloof 


75 

from  the  work  of  reformation,  from  the  persuasion  that  we 
are  in  no  danger.  '  The  world  is  no  worse  than  it  ahvays  has 
been,  and  this  pretence  of  growing  wickedness,  is  only  a 
song  of  alarm  sung  by  superstition,  from  age  to  age.'  Surely 
then,  if  we  may  credit  testimony,  the  world  has  been 
uniformly  bad  enough  to  make  reformation  desirable  ;  and 
if,  without  special  efforts,  it  has  been  stationary,  the  pros- 
pect of  improvement  by  exertion  is  bright,  and  we  are 
utterly  inexcusable  if  we  do  not  make  the  attempt. 

But  is  it  true  that  nations  do  not  decline  ?  Whence  then 
the  punishment  of  the  Israelites  for  this  sin,  and  vvhence 
the  maxim  we  have  just  combatted,  that  they  must  and  will 
decline  ?  Were  the  morals  of  the  Roman  empire  as  good 
when  it  was  sold  at  auction,  as  at  any  antecedent  period  ? 
Was  the  age  of  Charles  the  Second  in  England  as  favorable 
to  virtue,  as  any  preceding  age  ?  Did  the  late  war  produce 
in  our  own  land,  no  change  for  the  worse  ?  Are  the  morals 
of  New  England  as  pure  now,  as  they  ever  have  been  ?  Is 
the  God  of  heaven  as  universally  worshipped  in  the  family  ? 
Are  children  as  much  accustomed  to  subordination,  and  as 
faithfully  instructed  in  religion  ?  Are  the  laws  against  immo- 
rality as  faithfully  executed,  and  the  occasions  for  their 
interference  as  few,  as  at  any  former  period  ?  Has  there 
•been  no  increase  of  slander,  falsehood,  and  perjury  ?  Is  the 
sabbath  day  remembered  and  kept  holy,  with  its  ancient 
strictness?  Did  our  fathers  journey,  and  labor  in  the  field, 
and  visit,  and  ride  out  for  amusement  on  that  holy  day,  and 
do  these  things  with  impunity  ?  Has  there  been  no  increase 
of  intemperance  ?  Was  there  consumed,  in  the  days  of  our 
fathers,  the  proportion  of  five  gallons  of  ardent  spirits  for 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  land ;  and  at  an  ex- 
pense, more  than  sufficient  to  support  the  Gospel,  the  civil 
government,  and  every  school  and  literary  institution  ?  Did 
our  fathers  tolerate  tippling-shops  all  over  the  land,  and  enrich 
merchants  and  beggar  their  families,  by  mortgaging  their 
estates  to  pay  the  expenses  of  intemperance  ?    Did  the  ardent 


76 

spirits  consumed  by  laborers  amount,  not  unfrequently,  to 
almost  half  the  price  of  their  labor ;  and  did  they  faint  often 
ere  the  day  was  past,  and  fail  before  the  summer  was  ended, 
and  die  of  intemperance  in  the  midst  of  their  days?  It  is 
capable  of  demonstration,  that  the  vigor  of  our  countrymen, 
the  amount  of  productive  labor  and  their  morals,  are  declin- 
ing together  under  the  influence  of  this  destructive  sin. 

We  are  to  show 

II.  That  notwithstanding  all  these  impediments,  a  refor- 
mation is  entirely  practicable. 

If  it  were  not  practicable,  why  should  it  be  commanded, 
and  disobedience  be  followed  with  fearful  punishment?  Shall 
not  the  judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?  Are  not  all  his 
requisitions  according  to  what  a  man  hath,  and  not  according 
to  what  he  hath  not  ?  The  commands  of  God  are  the 
measure  and  the  evidence  of  human  ability.  He  is  not  an 
hard  master,  reaping  where  he  has  not  sowed,  and  gathering 
where  he  has  not  strawed.  The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not 
unequal — he  never  demands  of  men  the  performance  of 
impossibilities.  We  conclude  therefore,  that  reformation  is 
practicable,  because  it  is  the  unceasing  demand  of  heaven, 
that  nations,  as  well  as  individuals,  do  turn  from  their  evil 
ways. 

But  facts  corroborate  theory.  Reformations  great  and 
difficult,  have  been  achieved.  Such  was  the  reformation 
from  Popery  begun  by  Luther.  Who,  before  the  event,  would 
have  conceived  it  possible,  that  an  individual  could  awake 
half  of  Europe  from  the  slumber  of  ages,  and  shed  upon  the 
nations  that  light,  which  is  shining  more  and  more  to  the 
perfect  day. 

The  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  in  England,  and  in  our 
own  country,  is  a  memorable  exhibition  of  what  may  be  done 
by  well  directed,  persevering  efforts.  The  inhuman  traffic 
was  sanctioned  by  custom,  defended  by  argument,  and, 
still  more  powerfully,  by  a  vast  monied  capital   embarked  in 


77 

the  trade.  It  is  not  yet  fifty  years  since  this  first  effort  was 
made,  and  now  the  victory  is  won.  Who  produced  this 
mighty  revolution  ?  A  few  men  at  first  hfted  up  their  voice, 
and  were  reinforced  by  others,  till  the  immortal  work  was 
done. 

A  thousandth  part  of  the  study,  and  exertion,  and  expense, 
and  suffering,  endured  to  achieve  our  independence,  would 
be  sufficient  with  the  divine  blessing,  to  preserve  our  morals 
and  perpetuate  our  liberties  for  ever.  Should  a  foreign  foe 
inv^ade  us,  there  would  be  no  despondency  ;  every  pulse 
would  beat  high,  and  every  arm  would  be  strong.  It  is  only 
when  criminals  demand  the  surrender  of  our  laws  and  institu- 
tions, that  all  faces  gather  paleness  and  all  hearts  are  faint. 
Men,  who  would  fly  to  the  field  of  battle  to  rescue  their 
country  from  shame,  tremble  at  the  song  of  the  drunkard, 
and  flee,  panic  struck,  before  the  army  of  the  aliens. 

But  we  have  facts  to  produce,  facts,  more  decisive  than  a 
thousand  arguments,  to  prove  that  such  reformation  as  we 
need  is  practicable. 

Desperate  as  the  state  of  the  Jews  was  in  their  own  estima- 
tion, they  were  reformed,  and  did  not  at  that  time,  pine 
away  and  die  in  their  sins.  And  never,  perhaps,  was  such  a 
work  attended  with  circumstances  of  greater  difficulty.  The 
whole  order  of  God's  worship  had  been  superseded  by 
the  captivity,  and  was  again  to  be  restored.  Many  of  the 
people  had  contracted  unlawful  marriages ;  and  husbands 
and  wives  were  to  be  separated,  and  parents  and  children. 
Some  had  been  in  the  habit  of  treading  the  wine  press  on 
the  sabbath  day,  and  bringing  in  slieaves,  and  wine,  and 
grapes,  and  figs,  and  all  manner  of  burdens.  The  people 
held  also  constant  intercourse  with  Syrian  merchants,  who 
came  into  their  city  on  the  sabbath  and  traded  with  them. 
But  great  as  were  the  difficulties,  Nehemiah  and  Ezra  and 
the  elders  of  the  land  undertook,  and  by  the  help  of  God 
accomplished  the  work  of  reformation. 

Other  efforts  of  the  same  kind  have  been  crowned  with 
11 


78 

similar  success.     A  society  was  established  in  London  about 
the  year  1697,  to  suppress  vice  by  promoting  the  execution  , 
of  the  laws.     The  mora)  state  of  the  city  and  nation  at  that 
time,  and  the  success  of  their  association,  are  thus  described 
by  a  respectable  historian  : 

"  It  is   well  known,  to  our  shame,  that  profane  swearing 
and  cursing,  drunkenness,  and  open  lewdness   and   profana- 
tion of  the  Lord's  day  have  been    committed  with  great  im- 
punity, and  without  control,  without  either  shame,  or  fear  of 
laws,  so  that  they  were  seen  and  heard  at  noon  day,  and  in 
the  open  streets.     Debauchery  had  diffused  itself  through  the 
whole  body  of  the  nation,  till,  at  last,  our  morals  were  so  cor- 
rupted,   that  virtue    and   vice   had  with   too  many  changed 
their   names.    It  is   was  reckoned   breeding,  to  swear — gal- 
lantry,  to  be  lewd — good  humor,  to  be  drunk — and  wit,  to 
despise   serious  things.     In  this   state  of  things,   reformation 
was  indeed    talked    of  as  an  excellent  thing,  but  vice   was 
looked  upon   as  too  formidable  an  enemy  to   be   provoked  ; 
and  public  reformation  was  thought  to  be  so  difficult  a  thing, 
that  those  who  gave  it  very  good  words,  thought  it  not  safe  to 
set  about  it.     When  things  were  in^  this   dismal,  and   almost 
desperate  state,  it  came  into  the  hearts  of  five  or  six  private 
gentlemen  to  engage  in  this  hazardous  enterprise.     This  was 
such  an  undertaking,  as  might  well  be  expected  soon  to  alarm 
the   enemy,  and  which  the  patrons  of  vice  would  attempt  to 
defeat,    before    any   progress    could    be    made — and    so    it 
proved.     The   champions  of  debauchery  put   themselves  in 
array  to  defend   their  infamous   liberties,  to  ridicule,  to  de- 
fame,  and    to    oppose   this   design.     And   others,  whom  iu 
charity  we  could  not  look  upon  as  enemies,  were  forward  to 
censure  these   attempts   as   the   fruit  of  an  imprudent  zeal. 
But  notwithstanding  a   furious  opposition   from   adversaries, 
and  the   unkind   neutrality  of  friends,  these  gentlemen  not 
only  held  their  ground,  but  made  advances  into  the  territory 
of  the  enemy.     The   society,  commencing  with  five  or  six, 
soon  embraced  numbers   and  persons  of  eminence  in  every 


79 

station.  In  imitation  of  this  society  and  for  the  same  pur- 
pose, other  societies  were  formed  in  every  part  of  the  city, 
and  among  the  sober  of  ahnost  every  profession  and  occupa- 
tion. Beside  these,  there  were  about-  thirty-nine  rehgious 
societies  in  and  about  London,  who,  among  other  objects, 
made  that  of  reformation  a  prominent  one. 

"  The  effects  of  these  combinations  were  favorable  be- 
yond the  most  sanguine  expectation.  From  their  vigilance 
and  promptitude  the  growing  vices  of  the  day  were  checked, 
insomuch,  that  it  was  soon  found  difficult  to  detect  a  single 
criminal  in  the  streets  and  markets,  where,  a  little  before, 
horrid  oaths,  curses,  and  imprecations  might  be  heard,  day 
and  night.  Multitudes  of  drunkards,  profaners  of  the  Lord's 
day,  besides  hundreds  of  disorderly  houses,  were  brought  to 
justice,  and  such  open  vices  suppressed.  Nor  were  the 
good  effects  of  these  associations  limited  to  the  city.  They 
soon  extended  to  most  of  the  principal  towns  and  cities  of  the 
nation,  to  Scotland  and  L-eland  ;  so  that  a  great  part  of  the 
kingdom  have  been  awakened  in  some  measure  to  a  sense 
of  duty,  and  thereby  a  very  hopeful  progress  is  made 
towards  a  general  reformation." 

Similar  societies  have  been  formed  in  England,  at  different 
times,  ever  since.  Li  1802,  a  very  respectable  society  of 
the  above  description  was  established  in  London.  It  expe- 
rienced, at  first,  most  virulent  opposition,  but  has  completely 
surmoujited  every  obstacle,  and  now  commands  fear,  and 
respect,  and  gratitude.  Such  has  been  its  influence  in  pre- 
venting crimes,  that  at  one  annual  meeting  the  number  of 
convictions  reported  was  an  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  at 
the  next,  only  seventy.  As  it  respects  the  observation  of  the 
sabbath  particularly,  the  whole  city  of  London  exhibits,  to  a 
considerable  degree,  a  new  face.  A  vast  number  of  shops 
which  used  to  be  open  on  that  day,  are  closed.  The  butch- 
ers of  several  markets  have  thanked  the  society  for  com- 
pelling them  to  an  act  which  they  find  productive  of  so 
much    comfort    to   themselves ;    and   have    even   associated 


80 

to  secure  that  triumph,  which  the  labors  of  the  society 
had  won. 

Their  useful  and  disinterested  labors  have  received  the 
commendation  and  thanks  of  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  of 
more  than  one  of  the  judges,  and  of  a  variety  of  magistrates. 
We  desire  also  to  bring  our  gift  to  their  altar,  ( says  the 
Christian  Observer,  from  which  work  we  have  taken  this  ac- 
count,) and  to  add  the  feeble  testimony  of  our  opinion, 
that  this  society  deserves  well  of  its  countiy. 

In  this  country,  about  the  year  1760,  a  society  was  formed 
in  the  State  of  Maryland,  to  aid  the  civil  magistrate  in  the 
execution  of  the  laws.  And  so  well,  it  is  said,  did  the  so- 
ciety succeed,  as  to  induce  numbers  in  different  States  to 
imitate  their  example.  From  that  time  to  the  present  simi- 
lar associations  have  been  formed  in  various  places,  as  exi- 
gencies have  demanded,  and  widi  good  effect,  whenever 
their  exertions  have  been  made  with  prudence  and   decision. 

We  consider  the  fact,  therefore,  as  now  established,  that 
reformation  in  a  season  of  prevailing  moral  declension,  is 
entirely  practicable.  And  if  it  be  so,  it  is  a  glorious  fact, 
shedding  light  upon  the  darkness  of  the  present  day. 

We  are  to  consider 

III.  Some  of  the  ways,  in  which  this  great  work  may  be 
successfully  attempted. 

And  doubtless,  in  the  first  place,  the  public  attention  must 
be  called  to  this  subject,  and  the  public  mind  must  be  im- 
pressed with  a  proper  sense  of  danger,  and  of  the  necessity 
of  reformation. 

From  various  causes,  nations  are  prone  to  sleep  over  the 
dangers  of  moral  depravation,  till  their  destruction  comes 
upon  them.  A  small  portion  only  of  the  whole  mass  of 
crimes  is  seen  at  any  one  point.  A  few  tippling  shops  are 
observed  in  a  particular  place,  empoverishing  families,  and 
rearing  up  drunkards,  but  it  is  not  considered  that  thou- 
sands, with   like  pestilential   influence,   are  at  work  all  over 


81 

the  land,  training  up  recruits  to  hunt  down  law  and  order. 
A  few  instances  are  witnessed  of  needless  travelling,  or 
lahor,  or  amusement  on  the  sabhath,  which  excite  a  mo- 
mentary alarm.  But  it  is  not  considered  that  a  vast  army, 
probably  three  millions  of  people,  are  assailing  at  the  same 
time  this  great  bulwark  of  christian  lands. 

The  progress  of  declension  is  also  so  gradual,  as  to 
attract  from  day  to  day  but  little  notice,  or  excite  but  little 
alarm.  Now  this  slow  but  certain  approximation  of  the 
community  to  destruction  must  be  made  manifest.  The 
whole  army  of  conspirators  against  law  and  order,  and  the 
shame,  and  the  bondage,  and  the  wo,  which  they  are  pre- 
paring for  us,  must  be  brought  out  and  arrayed  before  the 
public  eye. 

This  exposition  of  public  guilt  and  danger  is  the  appro- 
priate work  of  Gospel  ministers.  They  are  watchmen  set 
upon  the  walls  of  Zion  to  descry  and  announce  the  ap- 
proach of  danger.  And  if,  through  sloth,  or  worldly 
avocations,  or  fear  of  man,  they  blow  not  the  trumpet  at 
the  approach  of  the  enemy,  and  the  people  perish,  the 
blood  of  the  slain  will  the  Lord  require  at  their  hands. 
Civil  magistrates  are  also  ministers  of  God,  attending  con- 
tinually upon  this  very  thing.  It  is  their  exclusive  work, 
"  to  see  to  it,  that  the  commonwealth  receives  no  detri- 
ment." Indeed,  every  man  is  bound  to  be  vigilant,  and 
firm,  and  unceasing,  in  this  great  vfork.  And  by  sermons, 
and  conversation,  and  tracts,  and  newspapers,  and  maga- 
zines, and  legislative  aid,  the  point  may  be  gained.  The 
public  attention  may  be  called  up  to  the  subject,  and  just 
apprehensions  of  danger  may  be  excited  ;  and  when  this 
fs  done,  the  greatest  danger  is  past — the  work  is  half  ac- 
complished. 

The  next  thing  to  be  attempted,  is  the  reformation  of  the 
better  part  of  the  community. 

In  a  time  of  general  declension,  some  who  are  compara- 
tively virtuous,   perhaps   professedly  pious,  yield  insensibly 


82 

to  the  influence  of  bad  example.  Habits  are  formed,  and 
practices  are  allowed,  which  none  would  indulge  in  better 
days  but  the  openly  vicious.  Each  says  of  his  own  indul- 
gence, "  Is  it  not  a  little  one  .f*"  But  the  aggregate  guilt 
is  great ;  and  the  aggregate  demoralizing  influence  of  such 
license  in  such  persons,  is  dreadful.  It  annihilates  the  in- 
fluence of  their  good  example  ;  tempts  the  inexperienced  to 
enter,  and  the  hardened  to  go  on,  in  the  downward  road  ; 
and  renders  all  eff()rts  to  save  them  unavailing.  If  we 
would  attempt  therefore,  successfully,  the  work  of  reforma- 
tion, we  must  make  the  experiment  first  upon  ourselves. 
We  must  cease  to  do  evil,  and  learn  to  do  well,  that  with 
pure  hands  and  clear  vision,  we  may  be  qualified  to  reclaim 
others.  If  our  liberty,  even  in  things  lawful,  should  become 
a  stumbling  block  to  the  weak  or  the  wicked,  it  may  be  no 
superfluous  benevolence  to  forego  gratifications  innocent  in 
themselves,  that  we  may  avoid  the  appearance  of  evil,  and 
cut  off  occasion  of  reproach  from  all  whom  our  exertions 
may  provoke  to  desire  occasion. 

The  next  thing  dem.anding  attention,  is  the  religious  educa- 
tion of  the  rising  generation. 

When  the  subject  of  reformation  is  proposed,  multitudes 
turn  their  eyes  to  places  of  the  greatest  depravation,  and  to 
criminals  of  the  most  abandoned  character,  and  because 
these  strong  holds  cannot  be  carried,  and  these  sons  of  Belial 
reformed,  they  conclude  that  nothing  can  be  done.  But 
reformation  is  not  the  work  of  a  day,  and,  if  the  strong  holds 
of  vice  cannot  be  stormed,  there  is  still  a  silent,  certain  way 
of  reformation.  Immoral  men  do  not  live  forever ;  and  if 
good  heed  be  taken  that  they  draw  no  new  recruits  from  our 
families,  death  will  achieve  for  us  a  speedy  victory.  We 
may  stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  God.  Death  will 
lay  low  the  sons  of  Auak,  and  a  generation  of  another  spirit 
will  occupy  without  resistance  their  fortified  places. 

From  various  causes  the  ancient  discipline  of  the  family 
has   been   extensively   neglected.      Children    have    neither 


been  governed  nor  instructed  in  religion,  as  they  were 
in  the  days  of  our  fathers.  The  imported  discovery  that 
human  nature  is  too  good  to  be  made  better  by  discipline, 
that  children  are  enticed  from  the  right  way  by  religious 
instruction,  and  driven  from  it  by  the  rod,  and  kept  in 
thraldom  by  the  conspiracy  of  priests  and  legislators,  has 
united  not  a  few  in  the  noble  experiment  of  emancipating 
the  world  by  the  help  of  an  irreligious,  ungoverned  pro- 
geny. The  indolent  have  rejoiced  in  the  discovery  that  our 
fathers  were  fools  and  bigots,  and  have  cheerfully  let  loose 
their  children  to  help  on  the  glorious  work,  while  thousands 
of  families,  having  heard  from  their  teachers,  or  believing  in 
spite  of  them,  that  morality  will  suffice  both  for  earth  and 
heaven,  and  not  doubting  that  morahty  will  flourish  without 
religion,  have  either  not  reared  the  family  altar,  or  have  put  out 
the  sacred  fire,  and  laid  aside  together  the  rod  and  the  Bible 
as  superfluous  auxiliaries  in  the  education  of  children.  From 
the  school  too,  with  pious  regard  for  its  sacred  honors,  the 
Bible  has  been  withdrawn,  lest,  by  a  too  familiar  knowledge 
of  its  contents,  children  should  learn  to  despise  it ;  as  if  igno- 
rance were  the  mother  of  devotion,  and  the  efficacy  of 
laws  depended  upon  their  not  being  understood.  With 
similar  benign  wisdom  has  not  only  the  rod,  but  govern- 
ment, and  catechetical  instruction,  and  a  regard  to  the 
moral  conduct  of  children  been  exiled  from  the  school. 
These  sagacious  counsels  emerging  from  beneath,  were 
heedlessly  adopted  by  many  as  the  wisdom  from  above,  until 
their  result  began  to  disclose  their  different  origin.  For  it 
came  to  pass  in  many  places,  that  the  school  instead  of  a 
nursery  of  piety,  became  often  a  place  of  temptation,  where 
children,  forgetting  the  scanty  instruction  of  the  family, 
learned  insubordination  by  indulgence  and  impiety,  and 
immorality,  by  the  example  of  those  who  were  permitted  to 
sin  with  impunity.  The  consequence  has  been,  that  on  all 
sides  our  ancient  insthutions  are  assailed,  and  our  venerable 
habits  and  usages  are  passing  away. 


84 

To  retrieve  these  mischiefs  of  negligence  and  folly,  a 
general  effort  must  be  made  to  restore  our  ancient  system 
of  education.  There  must  be  concert,  new  zeal,  and  special 
exertion  ;  and  let  no  man  predict  that  the  holy  enterprise 
cannot  succeed.  Because  we  have  listened  to  the  syren 
song  of  vain  philosophy,  and  floated  listlessly  down  the 
stream  till  the  precipice  appears,  shall  we  despair  to  row 
back  when  danger  inspires  courage,  and  calls  aloud  for  a 
common  eflbrt  ? 

Our  fathers  were  not  fools  ;  they  were  as  far  from  it  as 
modem  philosophers  are  from  wisdom.  Their  fundamental 
maxim  was,  that  man  is  desperately  wicked,  and  cannot  be 
qualified  for  good  membership  in  society,  without  the  influ- 
ence of  moral  restraint.  With  great  diligence  therefore, 
they  availed  themselves  of  the  laws  and  institutions  of  reve- 
lation, as  embodying  the  most  correct  instruction  and  the 
most  powerful  moral  restraint.  The  word  of  God  was  daily 
read,  and  his  worship  celebrated  in  the  family  and  in  the 
school,  and  children  were  trained  up  under  the  eye  oi 
Jehovah.  In  this  great  work,  pastors  and  churches  and 
magistrates  co-operated.  And  what  moral  restraint  could 
not  accomplish,  was  secured  by  parental  authority  and  the 
coercion  of  the  law.  The  success  of  these  efforts  corres- 
ponded with  the  wisdom  of  the  system  adopted,  and  the 
fidelity  with  which  it  was  reduced  to  practice.  Our  fathers 
established  and,  for  a  great  while  preserved  the  most  per- 
fect state  of  society,  probably,  that  has  ever  existed  in  this 
fallen  world. 

The  same  causes  will  still  produce  the  same  effects,  and 
no  other  causes  will  produce  them.  New  England  can 
only  retain  her  pre-eminence,  by  upholding  those  institutions 
and  habits  which  produced  it.  Divested  of  these,  like 
Samson  shorn  of  his  locks,  she  will  become  as  weak  and 
as  contemptible  as  any  other  land.  But  let  the  family  and 
the  school  be  organized  and  ordered  according  to  the  ancient 
pattern  ;  let  parents,   and   schoolmasters,    and    pastors,   and 


85 

churches,  and  magistrates,  do  their  duty,  and  all  will  be 
well.  The  crown  of  glory  will  return,  and  the  most  fine 
gold  will  shine  again  in  all  its  ancient  lustre. 

But  w^  must  here  state  more  particularly,  the  indispen- 
sable necessity  of  executing  promptly  the  laws  against  im- 
morality. 

Much  may  be  done  in  the  way  of  prevention  ;  but,  in  a 
free  government,  moral  suasion  and  coercion  must  be  united. 
If  children  be  not  religiously  educated,  and  accustomed  in 
early  life  to  subordination,  the  laws  will  fail  in  the  unequal 
contest  of  subduing  tigers  to  their  yoke.  But  if  the  influ- 
ence of  education  and  habit  be  not  confirmed  and  guarded 
by  the  supervening  influence  of  law,  this  salutary  restraint 
will  be  swept  away  by  the  overpowering  force  of  human 
depravity.  To  retrieve  therefore  our  declension,  it  is  in- 
dispensable, not  only  that  new  fidelity  pervade  the  family, 
the  school,  and  the  church  of  God,  but  that  the  laws 
against  immorality  be  restored  to  their  ancient  vigor.  Laws 
unexecuted  are  worse  than  nothing  ;  mere  phantoms,  which 
excite  increased  audacity,  when  the  vain  fears  subside  which 
they  have  inspired.  If  the  stream  must  have  its  course, 
it  is  better  not  to  oppose  obstructions  which  will  only 
increase  its  fury,  and  extend  the  desolation  when  they  are 
swept  away. 

But  in  a  season  of  great  moral  declension,  how  shall  we 
raise  from  the  dust  neglected  laws,  and  give  to  them  life 
and  vigor?  The  muhiplication  of  new  prohibitions  and 
penalties  will  not  avail,  for  the  evil  to  be  redressed  is  the 
non-execution  of  laws  already  competent,  if  executed,  to  our 
protection.  Shall  the  government  itself  stand  forth  the 
watchful  guardian  of  its  own  laws  ?  Too  often  it  may  lack 
the  inclination,  and  it  will  always  be  too  much  occupied  by 
other  concerns,  to  exercise  the  minute  agency  that  is  requisite. 

Shall  the  work  then  be  delegated  to  a  subordinate  magis- 
tracy .''  The  neglect  of  official  duty  is  the  very  evil  for 
which  we  now  seek  a  remedy.  Shall  individuals  then, 
12 


86 

volunteer  their  assistance  ?  It  is  possible,  that  they  may 
sometimes  experience  a  rebuke  from  the  magistrate  to 
whose  aid  they  come.  The  workers  of  iniquity  also,  will 
conspire  constantly  to  hunt  them  down  ;  while  thousands  of 
prudent  well  wishers  to  the  public  morals  will  look  on  and 
see  them  sacrificed,  pitying  their  rashness,  and  blessing 
themselves,  that  they  were  wise  enough  to  stand  aloof  from 
enterprises  of  so  much  danger. 

Direct  evils  compel  men  to  execute  the  law,  while  crimes 
full  of  deadly  consequences  are  suffered  to  prevail  with  im- 
punity. With  relentless  zeal  the  sword  pursues  the  fugitive 
thief  and  murderer,  and  no  city  of  refuge  affords  them  a 
sanctuary ;  while  thousands  devote  themselves  to  the  work  of 
training  up  thieves  and  murderers,  and  in  open  day  cut  the 
moral  ties  which  bind  them,  and  let  them  loose  upon  society. 
And  yet  the  sword  sleeps ;  and  judgment  is  turned  away 
backward  ;  and  justice  standeth  afar  off;  while  truth  is  fallen 
in  the  street,  and  equity  cannot  enter. 

To  secure  then,  the  execution  of  the  laws  against  immoral- 
ity in  a  time  of  prevailing  moral  declension,  an  influence  is 
needed  distinct  from  that  of  the  government,  independent 
of  popular  suffrage,  superior  in  potency  to  individual  efforts, 
and  competent  to  enlist  and  preserve  the  public  opinion  on 
the  side  of  law  and  order. 

This  most  desirable  influence  as  we  have  before  observed, 
has  been  found  in  local  voluntary  associations  of  the  wise 
and  the  good,  to  aid  the  civil  magistrate  in  the  execution  of 
the  laws.  These  associations  are  eminently  adapted  to  an- 
swer their  intended  purpose.  They  awaken  the  public  atten- 
tion, and  by  the  sermons,  the  reports,  and  the  conversation 
they  occasion,  diffuse  much  moral  instruction  ;  they  com- 
bine the  wisdom  and  influence  of  all  who  desire  to  prevent 
crimes,  and  uphold  peace  and  good  order  in  society  ;  they 
have  great  influence  to  form  correctly  the  public  opinion,  and 
to  render  the  violation  of  the  law  disgraceful,  as  well  as 
dangerous ;  they  teach  the  virtuous  part  of  the  community 


87 

their  strength,  and  accustom  them  to  act,  as  well  as' to  wish 
and  to  pray ;  they  constitute  a  sort  of  disciplined  moral 
militia,  prepared  to  act  upon  every  emergency,  and  repel 
every  encroachment  upon  the  liberties  and  morals  of  the 
State.  By  their  numbers,  they  embolden  the  timid,  and 
intimidate  the  enemy  ;  and  in  every  conflict,  the  responsibil- 
ity being  divided  among  many,  is  not  feared.  By  this  aux- 
iliary band  the  hands  of  the  magistrate  are  strengthened, 
the  laws  are  rescued  from  contempt,  the  land  is  purified, 
the  anger  of  the  Lord  is  turned  away,  and  his  blessing  and 
protection  restored. 

If,  beside  these  local  associations,  a  more  extended  concert 
of  wise  and  good  men  could  be  formed,  to  devise  ways  and 
means  of  suppressing  vice  and  guarding  the  public  morals, 
to  collect  facts  and  extend  information,  and,  in  a  thousand 
nameless  ways,  to  exert  a  salutary  general  influence,  it 
would  seem  to  complete  a  system  of  exertion,  which,  we 
might  hope,  would  retrieve  what  we  have  lost,  and  perpetuate 
forever  civil  and  religious  institutions.  Associations  of  this 
general  nature  for  the  promotion  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
have  exerted  a  powerful  influence  with  great  success ;  and 
no  reason,  it  is  presumed,  can  be  given,  why  the  cause  of 
morals  may  not  be  equally  benefitted  by  similar  associations. 

Finally  ;  To  counteract  the  prevalent  declension,  and  raise 
the  standard  of  public  morals,  it  is  peculiarly  necessary  to 
preserve  indissoluble  the  connexion  between  sin  and  shame. 

A  sense  of  shame  will  deter  multitudes  from  the  commis- 
sion of  crimes,  whom  conscience  alone  would  not  deter. 
Happily,  in  New  England,  immorality  of  every  description 
has  from  the  beginning  been  associated  with  disgrace.  But 
the  prevalence  of  wickedness  in  high  places,  and  the  growing 
frequency  of  crimes  have  at  length  paralized  the  public  sen- 
sibility, and  lightened  the  tax  of  shame.  Hence,  criminals 
whom  our  fathers  would  have  abhorred,  have  been  first 
"  endured,  then  pitied,  then  embraced."  This  compromise 
with  crimes  if  persisted  in,  will  undo  us.     Let   the  profligate 


88 

be  received  with  complacency  into  virtuous  society,  and 
enjoy  without  impediment  the  suffrage  of  the  community,  and 
the  pnbhc  conscience  will  be  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron  ;  the 
distinctions  between  right  and  wrong  will  disappear ;  the 
wicked,  openmouthed,  will  walk  on  every  side,  and  tread 
down  with  impunity  the  remnants  of  law  and  order.  If  we 
would  reform  the  land  we  must  return  therefore  to  the  stern 
virtue  of  our  ancestors,  and  lay  the  whole  tax  of  shame  upon 
the  dissolute  and  immoral.  • 

Let  this  circumspection  concerning  moral  character  attend 
us  in  the  selection  of  schoolmasters  to  instruct  our  children  ; 
of  subordinate  magistrates  to  manage  the  concerns  of  the 
town,  and  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  State  ;  and  in  selecting 
the  members  of  our  State  and  National  Legislatures  ;  and  we 
shall  soon  experience  the  good  effects  of  our  caution.  But 
disregard  this  single  consideration,  and  clothe  with  power 
irreligious  and  immoral  men,  and  we  cannot  stop  the  preva- 
lence of  crimes.  From  the  bad  eminence  to  which  we 
exalt  the  wicked,  the  flood  of  iniquity  will  roll  down  upon 
us,  and  the  judgments  of  God  will  follow  and  sweep  us 
away. 

IV.  We  are  to  consider  some  of  the  motives  which  should 
animate  the  wise  and  the  good  to  make  immediate  and  vigo- 
rous exertion  for  the  reformation  of  morals,  and  the  preser- 
vation of  our  laws  and  institutions. 

And  certainly,  the  importance  of  the  interest  in  jeopardy 
demands  our  first  and  most  serious  regard. 

If  we  consider  only  the  temporal  prosperity  of  the  nation, 
the  interest  is  tlie  most  important  earthly  interest  that  ever 
called  forth  the  enterprise  of  man.  No  other  portion  of  the 
human  race  ever  commenced  a  national  existence  as  we 
commenced  ours.  Our  very  beginning  was  civilized,  learned, 
and  pious.  The  sagacious  eye  of  our  ancestors  looked  far 
down  the  vale  of  time.  Their  benevolence  laid  foundations, 
and  reared  superstructures,  for  the   accommodation  of  distant 


89 

generations.  Through  peril,  and  tears,  and  blood,  they 
j)rocured  the  inheritance,  which,  with  many  prayers,  they 
bequeathed  unto  us.  It  has  descended  in 'an  unbroken  line. 
It  is  now  in  our  possession  impaired  indeed  by  our  folly, 
perverted  and  abused,  but  still  the  richest  inheritance  which 
the  mercy  of  God  continues  to  the  troubled  earth.  Nowhere 
beside,  if  you  search  the  world  over,  will  you  find  so  much 
real  liberty  ;  so  much  equality  ;  so  much  personal  safety,  and 
temporal  prosperity  ;  so  general  an  extension  of  useful  know- 
ledge ;  so  much  religious  instruction  ;  so  much  moral  res- 
traint ;  and  so  much  divine  mercy,  to  make  these  blessings 
the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation. 
Shall  we  throw  away  this  precious  bequest  ?  Shall  we  sur- 
render our  laws  and  liberties,  our  religion  and  morals,  our 
social  and  domestic  blessings,  to  the  first  invader  f  Shall 
we  despair  and  die  of  fear,  without  an  effort  to  avert  our 
doom  ?  What  folly  !  what  infatuation  !  what  madness  to  do 
so  !  With  what  indignation,  could  indignation  be  in  heaven, 
would  our  fathers  look  down  upon  the  deed.  W^ith  what 
lamentation,  could  tears  be  in  heaven,  would  they  weep  over 
it.  With  what  loud  voices,  could  they  speak  to  us  from 
heaven,  would  they  beseech  their  degenerate  children  to  put 
their  trust  in  God,  and  contend  earnestly  for  those  precious 
institutions  and  laws  for  which  they  toiled  and  bled. 

2.  If  we  do  not  awake  and  engage  vigorously  in  the  work 
of  reformation,  it  will  soon  be  too  late. 

Though  reformation  be  always  practicable  if  a  people  are 
disposed  to  reform,  there  is  a  point  of  degradation  from 
which  neither  individuals  nor  nations  are  disposed  to  arise, 
and  from  which  the  JMost  High  is  seldom  disposed  to  raise 
them.  When  irreligion  and  vice  shall  have  contaminated  the 
mass  of  the  people,  when  the  majority,  emancipated  from 
civil  and  moral  restraint  shall  be  disposed  to  set  aside  the 
laws  and  institutions  and  habits  of  their  fathers,  then  indeed 
it  may  be  feared  that  our  transgressions  and  our  sins  will  be 
upon  us,  and  that  we  shall  pine  away  and  die  in  them.     The 


90 

means  of  preservation  passing  into  other  hands,  will  become 
tlie  means  of  destruction.  Talents,  and  official  influence,  and 
the  power  of  legislation,  and  all  the  resources  of  the  State 
may  be  perverted  to  demolish  our  institutions,  laws  and 
usages,  until  every  vestige  of  ancient  wisdom  and  prosperity 
is  gone. 

To  this  state  of  things  we  are  hastening,  and,  if  no  effort 
be  made  to  stop  our  progress,  the  sun  in  his  course  is  not 
more  resistless  than  our  doom.  Our  vices  are  digging  the 
grave  of  our  liberties,  and  preparing  to  entomb  our  glory. 
We  may  sleep,  but  the  work  goes  on.  We  may  despise 
admonition,  but  our  destruction  slumbereth  not.  Travelling, 
and  worldly  labor,  and  visiting,  and  amusement  on  the  sab- 
bath, will  neither  produce  nor  preserve  such  a  state  of  society, 
as  the  conscientious  observance  of  the  sabbath  has  helped  to 
produce  and  preserve  ;  the  enormous  consumption  of  ardent 
spirits  in  our  land  will  produce  neither  bodies  nor  minds  like 
those  which  were  the  offspring  of  temperance  and  virtue. 
The  neglect  of  family  government,  and  family  prayer,  and  the 
religious  education  of  children,  will  not  produce  such  freemen 
as  were  formed  by  early  habits  of  subordination,  and  the 
constant  influence  of  the  fear  of  God  ;  the  neglect  of  official 
duty  in  magistrates  to  execute  the  laws,  will  not  produce  the 
same  effects,  which  were  produced  by  the  vigilance  and 
fidelity  of  our  fathers,  to  restrain  and  punish  crimes. 

Our  institutions,  civil  and  religious,  have  out-hved  that 
domestic  discipline  and  official  vigilance  in  magistrates  to 
execute  the  laws  which  rendered  obedience  easy  and  ha- 
bitual. The  laws  now  are  beginning  to  operate  extensively 
upon  necks  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke,  and  when  they  shall 
become  irksome  to  the  majority,  their  execution  will  become 
impracticable.  To  this  situation  we  are  already  reduced  in 
some  districts  of  the  land.  Drunkards  reel  through  the 
streets,  day  after  day,  and  year  after  year,  with  entire  impu- 
nity. Profane  swearing  is  heard,  and  even  by  magistrates, 
as  though  they  heard  it  not.     Efforts  to  stop  travelling  on  the 


91 

sabbath,  have  in  all  places  become  feeble,  and  in  many- 
places,  they  have  wholly  ceased.  Informing  officers  complain 
that  magistrates  will  not  regard  their  informations,  and  that 
the  public  sentiment  will  not  bear  them  out  in  executing  the 
laws  ;  and  conscientious  men  who  dare  not  violate  an  oath, 
have  begun  to  refuse  the  office.  The  only  proper  characters 
to  sustain  it,  the  only  men  who  can  retrieve  our  declining 
state,  are  driven  into  the  back  ground,  and  their  places  filled 
with  men  of  easy  conscience,  who  will  either  do  nothing,  or 
by  their  own  example  help  on  the  ruin.  The  public  con- 
science is  becoming  callous  by  the  frequency  and  impunity 
of  crimes.  The  sin  of  violating  the  sabbath  is  becoming  in 
the  public  estimation  a  little  sin,  and  the  shame  of  it,  nothing. 
The  disgrace  is  divided  among  so  many,  that  none  regard  it. 
The  sabbath  is  trodden  down  by  a  host  of  men,  whom  shame 
alone,  in  better  days,  would  have  deterred  entirely  from  this 
sin.  In  the  mean  time,  many,  who  lament  these  evils  are 
augmenting  them  by  predicting  that  all  is  lost,  encouraging 
the  enemy,  and  weakening  the  hands  of  the  wise  and  good. 
But  truly,  we  do  stand  on  the  confines  of  destruction.  The 
mass  is  changing.  We  are  becoming  another  people.  Our 
habits  have  held  us,  long  after  those  moral  causes  which 
formed  them  have  in  a  great  degree  ceased  to  operate. 
These  habits,  at  length,  are  giving  way.  So  many  hands 
have  so  long  been  employed  to  pull  away  foundations,  and  so 
few  to  repair  the  breaches,  that  the  building  totters.  So 
much  enterprise  has  been  displayed  in  removing  obstructions 
from  the  current  of  human  depravity,  and  so  little  to  restore 
them,  that  the  stream  at  length  is  beginning  to  run.  It  may 
be  stopped  now,  but  it  will  soon  become  deep,  and  broad, 
and  rapid,  and  irresistible. 

The  crisis  then  has  come.  By  the  people  of  this  genera- 
tion, by  ourselves  probably,  the  amazing  question  is  to  be 
decided,  whether  the  inheritance  of  our  fathers  shall  be 
preserved,  or  thrown  away — whether  our  sabbaths  shall  be  a 
delight,  or  a  loathing — whether  the  taverns  on  that  holy  day, 


92 

shall  be  crowded  with  drunkards,  or  the  sanctuary  of  God 
with  humble  worshippers — whether  riot  and  profanity  shall 
fill  our  streets,  and  poverty  our  dwellings,  and  convicts  our 
jails,  and  violence  our  land  ;  or  whether  industry,  and  tempe- 
rance, and  righteousness,  shall  be  the  stability  of  our  times — 
whether  mild  laws  shall  receive  the  cheerful  submission  of 
freemen,  or  the  iron  rod  of  a  tyrant  compel  the  trembling 
homage  of  slaves.  Be  not  deceived.  Human  nature  in  this 
nation  is  like  human  nature  every  where.  All  actual  differ- 
ence in  our  favor  is  adventitious,  and  the  result  of  our  laws, 
institutions,  and  habits.  It  is  a  moral  injluence  which,  with 
the  blessing  of  God,  has  formed  a  state  of  society  so  eminent- 
ly desirable.  The  same  influence  which  has  formed  it,  is 
indispensable  to  its  preservation.  The  rocks  and  hills  of 
New  England  will  remain  till  the  last  conflagration ;  but,  let 
the  sabbath  be  profaned  with  impunity,"  the  worship  of  God 
be  abandoned,  the  government  and  religious  instruction  of 
children  be  neglected,  and  the  streams  of  intemperance  be 
permitted  to  flow,  and  her  glory  will  depart.  The  wall  of 
fire  will  no  more  surround  her,  and  the  munition  of  rocks 
will  no  longer  be  her  defence.     But, 

3.  If  we  do  neglect  our  duty,  and  suffer  our  laws  and 
institutions  to  go  down,  we  give  them  up  forever.  It  is  easy 
to  relax,  easy  to  retreat,  but  impossible,  when  the  abomina- 
tion of  desolation  has  once  passed  over,  to  rear  again  the 
prostrate  altars,  and  gather  again  the  fragments,  and  build 
up  the  ruins  of  demolished  institutions.  Neither  we  nor 
our  children  shall  ever  see  another  New  England,  if  this  be 
destroyed.  All  is  lost  irretrievably  when  the  landmarks  are 
once  removed,  and  the  bands  which  now  hold  us  are  once 
broken.  Such  institutions,  and  such  a  state  of  society,  can 
be  established  only  by  such  men  as  our  fathers  were,  and  in 
such  circumstances  as  they  were.  They  could  not  have 
made  a  New  England  in  Holland.  Tliey  made  the  attempt 
but  failed.  Nowhere  could  they  have  succeeded,  but  in  a 
wilderness  ;  where  they  gave  the  jyrecepts,  and  set  the  example. 


93 

and  made,  and  executed  the  laivs.  By  vigilance,  and  prayer, 
and  exertion,  we  may  defend  these  institutions,  retrieve  much 
of  what  we  have  lost,  and  perpetuate  a  better  state  of  society 
than  can  elsewhere  be  made  by  the  art  of  man.  But,  let 
the  enemy  come  in  like  a  flood,  and  overturn,  and  overturn, 
and  no  place  will  be  found  for  repentance,  though  it  be 
sought  carefully  with  tears. 

4.  If  we  give  up  our  laws  and  institutions,  our  guilt  and 
misery  will  be  very  great. 

We  shall  become  slaves,  and  slaves  to  the  worst  of  mas- 
ters. The  profane  and  the  profligate,  men  of  corrupt  minds, 
and  to  every  good  work  reprobate,  will  be  exalted  to  pollute 
us  by  their  example,  to  distract  us  by  their  folly,  and  im- 
poverish us  by  fraud  and  rapine.  Let  loose  from  wholesome 
restraint,  and  taught  to  sin  by  the  example  of  the  great,  a 
scene  most  horrid  to  be  conceived,  but  more  dreadful  to  be 
experienced,  will  ensue.  No  people  are  more  fitted  to  de- 
struction, if  they  go  to  destruction,  than  we  ourselves.  All 
the  daring  enterprise  of  our  countrymen  emancipated  from 
moral  restraint,  will  become  the  desperate  daring  of  unre- 
strained sin.  Should  we  break  the  bands  of  Christ,  and  cast 
his  cords  from  us,  and  begin  the  work  of  self-destruction,  it 
will  be  urged  on  with  a  malignant  enterprise  which  has  no 
parallel  in  the  annals  of  time  ;  and  be  attended  with  miseries, 
such  as  the  sun  has  never  looked  upon. 

The  hand  that  overturns  our  laws  and  altars  is  the  hand 
of  death  unbarring  the  gate  of  Pandemonium,  and  letting 
loose  upon  our  land  the  crimes  and  the  miseries  of  hell.  Even 
if  the  Most  High  should  stand  aloof,  and  cast  not  a  single  in- 
gredient into  our  cup  of  trembling,  it  would  seem  to  be  full 
of  superlative  wo.  But  he  will  not  stand  aloof.  As  we 
shall  have  begun  an  open  controversy  with  him,  he  will 
contend  openly  with  us  ;  and  never,  since  the  earth  stood,- 
has  it  been  so  fearful  a  thing  for  nations  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  living  God.  The  day  of  vengeance  is  in  his  heart — 
the  day  of  judgment  has  come — the  great  earthquake  which 
13 


94 

is  to  sink  Babylon  is  shaking  the  nations,  and  the  waves  of 
the  mighty  commotion  are  dashing  upon  every  shore.  Is 
this,  then,  a  time  to  remove  foundations,  when  the  earth  itself 
is  shaken  ?  Is  this  a  time  to  forfeit  the  protection  of  God, 
when  the  hearts  of  men  are  failing  them  for  fear,  and  for 
looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth  ? 
Is  this  a  time  to  run  upon  his  neck,  and  tlie  thick  bosses  of 
his  buckler,  when  the  nations  are  drinking  bipod,  and 
fainting,  and  passing  away  in  his  wrath  ?  Is  this  ia  time  to 
throw  away  the  shield  of  faith,  when  his  arrows  are  drunk 
with  the  blood  of  the  slain  ;  to  cut  from  the  anchor  of  hope, 
when  the  clouds  are  collecting,  and  the  sea  and  the  waves 
are  roaring,  and  thunders  are  uttering  their  voices,  and 
lightnings  blazing  in  the  heavens,  and  the  great  hail  is 
falling  from  heaven  upon  men,  and  every  mountain,  sea, 
and  island  is  fleeing  in  dismay  from  the  face  of  an  incensed 
God? 

5.  The  judgments  of  God  which  we  feel,  and  those  which 
impend,  call  for  immediate  repentance  and  reformation.  Our 
country  has  never  seen  such  a  day  as  this.*  By  our  sins  we 
are  fitted  to  destruction.  God  has  begun  in  earnest,  his 
work,  his  strange  work,  of  national  desolation.  For  many 
years  the  ordinary  gains  of  industry  have,  to  a  great  extent, 
been  cut  off.  The  counsels  of  the  nation  have  by  one  part 
of  it  been  deemed  infatuation,  and  by  the  otlier  part  oracular 
wisdom  ;  while  the  action  and  reaction  of  parties  have 
shaken  our  institutions  to  their  foundations,  debased  our 
morals,  and  awakened  animosities  which  expose  us  to  dis- 
memberment and  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war.  But  for  all 
this  his  anger  is  not  turned  away,  but  his  hand  is  stretched 
out  still.  On  our  seaboard,  are  the  alarms  and  the  plagues 
of  war.  On  our  frontiers  is  heard  the  trumpet  of  alarm 
mingling  with  the  war-whoop  of  the  savage,  and  the  cries 
and  dying  groans  of  murdered  families.  In  the  south,  a 
volcano  whose    raging  fires  and  murmuring   thunders  have 

*  1812. 


95 

long*  been  suppressed,  is  now  with  loud  admonition  threat- 
ening an  eruption.  In  the  midst  of  these  calamities  the 
angel  of  God  has  received  commission  to  unsheaih  his 
sword,  and  extend  far  and  wide  the  work  of  death.  The 
little  child  and  the  blooming  youth,  the  husband  and  the 
wife,  men  of  talents  and  usefulness,  the  ministers  of  the 
sanctuary  and  the  members  of  the  church  of  God,  bow 
before  the  stroke,  and  sink  to  the  grave.  That  dreadful 
tempest,  the  sound  of  vvhicli,  till  late,  was  heard  only  from 
afar  as  it  was  borne  across  the  Atlantic,  has  at  length  begun 
to  beat  upon  us,  and  those  mighty  burnings,  the  smoke  of 
which  we  have  hitherto  beheld  from  afar,  have  begun  in  our 
nation  their  devouring  course.  Nothing  can  avert  the  tem- 
pest, and  nothing  can  extinguish  our  burning,  but  repentance 
and  reformation  ;  for  it  is  the  tempest  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
and  the  fire  of  his  indignation. 

6.  Our  advantages  to  achieve  a  reformation  of  morals  are 
great,  and  will  render  our  guilt  and  punishment  propor- 
tionably  aggravated,  if  we  neglect  to  avail  ourselves  of 
them. 

We  are  not  yet  undone.  The  harvest  is  not  past ;  the 
summer  is  not  ended.  There  is  yet  remaining  much  health 
and  strength,  in  many  parts  of  our  land.  This  State  especial- 
ly, is  by  its  laws  thoroughly  furnished  to  every  good  work. 
Let  our  laws  be  executed,  and  we  may  live  for  ever.  Nor 
is  their  execution  to  be  despaired  of.  In  every  town  in  the 
State  the  majority  of  the  population  are  decidedly  opposed, 
it  is  believed,  to  those  immoral  practices  which  our  laws 
condemn.  And  in  most  towns  and  societies,  it  is  a  small 
minority  who  corrupt  with  impunity  the  public  morals.  Let 
the  friends  of  virtue,  then,  express  their  opinions,  and  unite 
their  influence,  and  the  laws  can  be  executed.  Crimes  will 
become  disgraceful,  and  the  non-execution  of  the  laws  more 
hazardous  to  popularity  than  their  faithful  execution.  The 
friends  of  good  morals  and  good  government,  have  it  yet  in 
their  power  to  create   a  public  opinion    which  nothing  can 


96 

resist.*  The  wicked  are  bold  in  appearance,  but  the'f  are 
cowards  at  heart ;  their  threats  and  boasting  are  loud,  but 
they  are  "  vox  et  preterea  nihil. "f  God  is  against  them — 
their  own  consciences  are  against  them — the  laws  are  against 
them — and  let  only  the  public  opinion  be  arrayed  against 
them,  and  five  shall  chase  a  thousand,  and  an  hundred 
shall  put  ten  thousand  to  flight. 

It  is  not  as  if  we  were  called  upon  to  make  new  laws,  and 
establish  usages  unknown  before.  We  make  no  innovation. 
We  embark  in  no  novel  experiment.  We  set  up  no  new 
standard  of  morals.  We  encroach  upon  no  man's  liberty. 
We  lord  it  over  no  man's  conscience.  We  stand  upon  the 
defensive  merely.  We  contend  for  our  altars  and  our  fire- 
sides. We  rally  around  the  standard  which  our  fathers 
reared,  and   our  motto  is,  '  the  inheritance  which  they 

BEQUEATHED,  NO  MAN  SHALL  TAKE  FROM  US.'   The  CXCCU- 

tive,  legislative,  and  judicial  departments  of  the  government 
are  in  the  hands  of  men,  who,  we  doubt  not,  will  lend  to  the 
work  of  reformation  their  example,  their  prayers,  their 
weight  of  character,  official  influence,  and  their  active  co- 
operation. And  will  not  the  clergy,  and  christian  churches 
of  all  denominations  array  themselves  on  the  side  of  good 
morals  and  the  laws  ?  Will  they  not  like  a  band  of  brothers, 
and  terrible  to  the  wicked  as  an  army  with  banners,  contend 
earnestly  for  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel  ?  -If  with  such 
means  of  self  preservation,  we  pine  away  and  die  in  our 
sins,  we  shall  deserve  to  die  ;  and  our  death  will  be  dreadful. 

7.  But,  were  our.  advantages  fewer-  -than  they  are,  the 
Lord  will  be  on  our  side  and  will  bless  us,  if  we  repent  and 
endeavor  to  do  our  duty. 

He  commands  us  to  repent  and  reform,  and  what  lie 
commands  his  people  to  do,  he  will  help  them  to  accomplish 
if  they  make  the  attempt.     He  has  promised  to  help   them. 

*  The  writer  has  lived  to  see  that  a  new  moral  power  must  be  applied  by  sabbath 
schools,  revivals  of  relijjion,    and   bible,  tract,  and  missionary  societies,  before  immo- 
ralities in  a  popular  govenimeiil  can  be  suppressed  by  law. 
t  Mere  noise  and  nothing'  else. 


97 

He  always  has  given  efficacy,  more  or  less,  to  the  faithful 
exertions  of  men  to  do  good.  At  the  present  time,  in  a 
peculiar  manner  does  he  smile  upon  every  essay  to  do  good. 
Not  a  finger  is  lifted  in  vain  in  any  righteous  cause,  the 
result  of  every  enterprise  surpasses  expectation,  the  grain 
of  mustard  becomes  a  tree,  the  little  leaven  leavens  the 
lump.  The  voice  of  providence  now  is,  "  In  the  morning 
sow  thy  seed,  and  in  the  evening  withhold  not  thy  hand,  for 
this  and  that  shall  both  prosi)er."  The  God  in  whose  help 
we  confide  is  also  our  fathers'  God,  who  remembers  mercy  to 
the  thousandth  generation  of  them  that  fear  him,  and  keep 
his  commandments.  Within  the  broad  circumference  of  this 
covenant  we  stand,  and  neither  kw  nor  obscure  are  the 
indications  of  his  mercy  in  the  midst  of  wrath. 

8.  The  work  of  reformation  is  already,  it  may  be  hoped, 
auspiciously  begun. 

Though  in  some  things  there  is  a  fearful  declension  of 
morals,  which,  if  not  arrested,  will  inevitably  destroy  us  ; 
yet,  it  ought  to  be  gratefully  acknowledged,  that,  in  some 
respects,  our  moral  state  has  for  a  considerable  period  been 
growing  better.  The  progress  of  civilization  and  religion 
has  softened  the  manners  of  the  people,  and  banished  to  a 
great  extent,  that  violence  of  passion  which  ended  in  broils 
and  lawsuits.  Those  indecencies  also,  which  too  often  pol- 
luted the  intercourse  of  the  sexes,  and  warred  upon  the  best 
interests  of  society,  have,  to  a  great  extent,  given  place  to 
habits  of  refinement  and  virtue.  Though  at  this  time  there 
be  heresies,  that  they  which  are  approved  may  be  manifest ; 
there  has  never  been  in  this  State,  perhaps  never  in  the  nation, 
a  more  extensive  prevalence  of  evangehcal  doctrine.  Great 
efforts  have  been  made  also,  and  with  signal  success,  to  raise 
up  a  learned  and  pious  ministry  for  the  churches,  from 
which,  in  time,  a  great  reforming  influence  may  be  expected  : 
for  the  morals  of  a  nation  will  ever  hold  a  close  alliance  with 
the  talents  and  learning,  the  piety  and  orthodoxy,  of  its 
clergy.     The  number  of  pious  persons  has,  in  the  course  of 


98 

fifteen  years,  been  greatly  increased,  and  has  been  attend- 
ed with  a  more  than  correspondent  increase  of  prayer. 
Those  local  weekly  associations  for  prayer  which  are  now 
spread  over  our  land,  are,  most  of  them,  of  comparatively 
recent  origin. 

In  perfect  accordance  with  this  increased  spirit  of  prayer, 
has  been  the  effusion  of  the  Holy.  Spirit  in  the  revival  of 
religion.  These  revivals  have  been  numerous,  great,  and 
glorious ;  and,  blessed  be  God,  they  still  prevail.  Their 
reforming  influence  has  been  salutary  beyond  expression. 
Wherever  they  have  existed,  they  have  raised  up  the  founda- 
tions of  many  generations.  They  have  done  more  than  all 
other  causes  to  arrest  our  general  decline,  and  are  this 
moment  turning  back  the  captivity  of  our  land.  The 
churches  under  their  renovating  influence,  are  beginning  to 
maintain  a  more  eflicient  discipline,  and  to  superintend  with 
more  fidelity  the  religious  education  of  their  baptized  children. 
The  principles  of  infidel  philosophy  with  respect  to  civil 
government,  and  the  government  and  religious  education  of 
children,  have  it  is  hoped  had  their  day,  and  are  retiring 
to  their  own  place,  succeeded  happily,  by  the  maxims  of 
revelation  and  common  sense. 

The  missionary  spirit  which  is  beginning  to  pervade  our 
land,  promises  also,  an  auspicious  reforming  influence.  It 
teaches  us  to  appreciate  more  justly  our  own  religious  privi- 
leges, and  calls  off  the  hearts  of  thousands  from  political  and 
sectarian  bickerings,  to  unite  them  in  one  glorious  enterprise 
of  love.  Who,  but  the  Lord  our  God,  has  created  that  ex- 
tensive and  simultaneous  predisposition  in  the  public  mind,  to 
favor  a  work  of  reformation  ?  Who,  in  this  day  of  clouds 
and  tempest,  has  opened  the  eyes  of  the  people  to  recognise 
their  dependence  upon  God,  and  his  avenging  hand  in  the 
judgments  which  they  feel,  and  turned  their  hearts  to  seek 
him  to  an  unusual  extent,  by  fasting,  and  humiliation,  and 
prayer  ?  Who,  indeed,  has  poured  ort  upon  our  land,  a 
spirit  of  reformation  as  real,  if  not  yet   as  universal,  as  the 


99 

spirit  of  missions  ?  .'The  fact*  is  manifest  from  the  zeal  of 
individuals,  the  reviving  fidelity  of  magistrates  in  various 
places,  the  addresses  of  ecclesiastical  bodies,  and  the  for- 
mation of  general  and  local  associations  to  suppress  crimes, 
and  support  the  laws  and  institutions  of  our  land.* 

The  Most  High,  then,  has  begun  to  help  us.  While  his 
judgments  are  abroad,  the  nation  is  beginning  to  learn  righte- 
ousness. These  favorable  circumstances  do  hy  no  means 
supersede  the  necessity  of  special  exertion  ;  but  they  are 
joyful  pledges  that  our  labor  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 
They  are  his  providential  voice,  announcing  that  he  is  waiting 
to  be  gracious  ;  and  that,  if  we  "  hearken  to  him,  he  will 
soon  subdue  our  enemies,  and  turn  his  hand  against  our 
adversaries;  that  the  haters  of  the  Lord -shall  submit  them- 
selves unto  him,  but  that  our  time  shall  endure  forever." 
Therefore, 

9.  If  we  endure  a  little  longer,  the  resources  of  the  millen- 
nial day  will  come  to  our  aid. 

Many  are  the  prophetic  signs  which  declare  the  rapid  ap- 
proach of  that  day.  Babylon  the  great  is  fallen.  The  false 
Prophet  is  hastening  to  perdition.  That  wicked  one  hath 
appeared,  whom  the  Lord  will  destroy  by  the  breath  of  his 
mouth  and  the  brightness  of  his  coming.  The  day  of  his 
vengeance  is  wasting  the  earth.  The  last  vial  of  the  wrath 
of  God  is  running.  The  angel  having  the  everlasting  Gospel 
to  preach  to  men,   has  begun   his  flight ;  and,  with  trumpet 

*  A  society  was  formed  in  Boston,  on  the  3tli  of  Februar}',  1813,  entitled  "  The 
Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Intemperance.''  The  object  of  tiie 
society  is  stated  to  be,  "  to  discountenance  and  suppress  the  too  frequent  use  of 
ardent  spirits,  and  its  kindred  vices,  profanoness,  and  gaming-;  and  to  encourage 
and  promote  temperance,  and  general  morality.  With  a  view  to  this  object,  the 
society  will  recommend  the  institution  of  au.xiliary  societies  in  different  pans  of  the 
commonvvealti) ;  and  hold  correspondence  with  other  societies  which  may  be  insti- 
tuted for  the  same  general  object. 

"  Besides  the  usual  officers  of  a  society,  there  is  a  board  of  counsel  consisting  of 
eight  persons,  which  is  to  act  as  the  executive  of  the  society,  to  make  communica- 
tions to  the  auxiliary  societies,  and  to  receiie  communications  from  ihem  ;  to 
collect,  combine,  and  digest  facts,  and  general  information,  relating  to  the  purposes 
of  the  society  ;  to  devise  ways  and  means  for  the  furtherance  of  these  purposes ;  to 
apply  the  society's  funds  according  to  direction  ;  and,  al  each  annual  meeting,  lo 
report  to  the  society  their  doings,  a  digest  of  the  facts,  and  general  infojination 
which  ihey  may  have  collected,  and  such  measures  as  they  may  juda;e  si/!table  (or 
the  society  to  adopt  and  pursue.  They  shall  hold  stated  quarterly  meetings." 
—Panoplistfor  February,  1813.  pp.  418,  419,  420. 


100 

sounding  long,  and  waxing  loi>d,  is  calling  to  the  nations  to 
look  unto  Jesus  and  be  saved.  Soon  will  the  responsive 
song  be  heard  from  every  nation,  and  kindred ,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  as  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as  the 
voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderings, 
saying  ;  allelujah,  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth. 

On  the  confines  of  such  a  day,  shall  we  despair  ?  While 
its  blessed  light  is  beginning  to  shine,  shall  we  give  up  our 
laws  and  institutions,  and  sink  down  to  the  darkness  and 
torments  of  the  bottomless  pit  f 

10.  But  considerations,  before  which  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  fade  and  are  forgotten,  call  us  to  instant  exertion  in 
the  work  of  reformation. 

Every  one  of  us  must  stand  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ.  Every  one  of  us,  as  a  friend,  or  an  enemy,  shall 
live  under  his  government  forever.  We  shall  drink  of  the 
river  of  pleasure,  or  of  the  cup  of  trembling.  We  shall  sing 
the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  or  lift  up  our  cries  with  the 
smoke  of  our  torment.  The  institutions  in  danger,  are  the 
institutions  of  heaven,  provided  to  aid  us  in  fleeing  from  the 
wrath  to  come.  The  laws  to  be  preserved,  are  laws  which 
have  lent  their  congenial  influence  to  the  immortal  work  of 
saving  sinners.  The  welfare  of  millions  through  eternity, 
depends,  under  God,  upon  their  preservation. 

Ye  parents — which  of  your  children  can  you  give  up  to  the 
miseries  of  a  profligate  life,  and  the  pangs  of  an  impenitent 
death  ?  Which,  undone  by  your  example,  or  negligence  and 
foil)',  are  you  prepared  to  meet  on  the  left  hand  of  your 
Judge  .''  Which,  if  by  a  miracle  of  mercy  you  should  ascend 
to  heaven,  can  you  leave  behind,  to  go  away  into  everlasting 
punishment  ?  Call  around  you  the  dear  children  whom  God 
has  given  you,  and  look  them  o'er  and  o'er,  and,  if  among 
them  all  you  cannot  find  a  victim  to  sacrifice,  awake,  and 
with  all  diligence  uphold  those  institutions  which  the  good 
shepherd  has  provided  to  protect  and  save  them. 

My  fathers  and  brethren,   who  minister  at  the  altar — the 


\ 


101 

time  is  short.  We  must  soon  meet  our  people  at  the  bar  of 
God  ;  should  we  meet  any  of  them  undone  by  our  example, 
or  sloth,  or  unbelief,  dreadful  will  be  the  interview  !  Shall 
we  not  lift  up  our  voice  as  a  trumpet,  and  do  quickly,  and 
with  all  our  might,  what  our  hands  find  to  do  ? 

Ye  magistrates  of  a  christian  land,  ye  ministers  of  God 
for  good — the  people  of  this  land,  alarmed  by  the  prevalence 
of  crimes  and  by  the  judgments  of  God,  look  up  to  you  for 
protection.  By  the  glories  and  terrors  of  the  judgment  day, 
by  the  joys  of  heaven  and  the  miseries  of  hell  they  beseech 
you,  as  the  ministers  of  God,  to  save  them  and  their  children 
from  the  dangers  of  this  untoward  generation. 

Ye  men  of  wealth  and  influence — will  ye  not  help  in  this 
great  attempt  to  reform  and  save  our  land  ?  Are  not  these 
distinctions,  talents,  for  the  employment  of  which  you  must 
give  an  account  to  God  ;  and  can  you  employ  them  better, 
than  to  consecrate  them  to  the  service  of  your  generation  by 
the  will  of  God  ? 

Let  me  entreat  those  unhappy  men  who  haste  to  be  rich  by 
unlawful  means,  who  thrive  by  the  vices  and  ruin  of  their  fel- 
low men,  to  consider  their  end.  How  dreadful  to  you  will 
be  the  day  of  death  !  How  intolerable,  the  day  of  judgment ! 
How  many  broken  hearted  widows,  and  fatherless  children, 
will  then  lift  up  their  voices  to  testify  against  you.  How 
many  of  the  lost  spirits  will  ascend  from  the  world  of  wo,  to 
cry  out  against  you,  as  the  wretches  who  ministered  to  their 
lusts,  and  fitted  them  for  destruction.  In  vain  will  you  plead 
that  if  you  had  not  done  the  murderous  deed,  other  men 
would  have  done  it ;  or  that,  if  you  had  not  destroyed  them, 
they  had  still  destroyed  themselves.  If  other  men  had  done 
the  deed,  they,  and  not  you,  would  answer  for  it;  if  they  had 
destroyed  themselves  without  your  agency,  their  blood  would 
be  upon  their  own  heads.  But  as  you  contributed  voluntarily 
to  their  destruction,  you  will  be  holden  as  partakers  in  their 
sin,  and  their  blood  will  be  required  at  your  hands.  Why,  then, 

14 
/ 


102 

will  you  traffic  in  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men,  and  barter 
away  your  souls  for  the  gains  of  a  momentary  life  ? 

To  conclude.  Let  me  entreat  the  unhappy  men  who  are 
the  special  objects  of  legal  restraint,  to  cease  from  their  evil 
ways,  and,  by  voluntary  reformation,  supersede  the  necessity 
of  coercion  and  punishment.  Why  will  you  die  ?  What 
fearful  thing  is  there  in  heaven,  which  makes  you  flee"  from 
that  world  ?  What  fascinating  object  in  hell,  that  excites 
such  frenzied  exertion  to  burst  every  band,  and  overleap 
every  mound,  and  force  your  way  downward  to  the  cham- 
bers of  death  ?  Stop,  I  beseech  you,  and  repent,  and  Jesus 
Christ  shall  blot  out  your  sins,  and  remember  your  transgres- 
sions no  more.  Stop,  and  the  host  who  follow  your  steps 
shall  turn,  and  take  hold  on  the  path  of  life.  Stop,  and  the 
wide  waste  of  sin  shall  cease,  and  the  song  of  angels  shall 
be  heard  again  ;  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ;  on  earth 
peace,  good  will  to  men."  Stop,  and  instead  of  wailing  with 
the  lost,  you  shall  join  the  multitudes  which  no  man  can 
number,  in  the  ascription  of  blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory, 
and  power,  to  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  to  the 
Lamb,  forever  and  ever. 


SERMON  IV. 


THE  BUILDING  OF  WASTE  PLACES. 


Isaiah,  Ixi.  4. 


And  they  shall  huild  the  old  wastes,  they  shall  raise  up  the  former  desola- 
tions, and  they  shall  repair  the  waste  cities,  the  desolations  of  many  gene- 
rations. 

The  text  predicts  the  civil  and  religious  order  which 
should  succeed  the  restoration  of  the  tribes  from  Babylon. 
During  that  long  exile,  many  fields  lay  untilled,  and  many 
cities  without  inhabitant — their  walls  broken  down.  The 
temple  and  the  synagogues  of  the  nation  lay,  also,  in  ruins. 
But  "  they  shall  build,"  saith  the  prophet,  "  the  old  wastes." 
The  fields  shall  be  tilled — the  cities  inhabited — the  temple 
rebuilt — and  the  worship  of  God  restored. 

The  prediction  has  unquestionably  a  reference  also  to  the 
latter  day,  and  announces  that  great  spiritual  change  which 
awaits  the  nations  made  desolate  by  sin.  In  all  lands  the 
wastes  shall  be  builded — the  wastes  of  paganism — the  wastes 
of  mahometanism — the  wastes  of  popery — the  wastes  of 
atheism  and  heresy.  The  accomplishment  of  this  universal 
restoration  will  include  the  raising  up  of  decayed  churches, 
as  well  as  the  planting  of  new  ones,  and  will  be  accomplished, 
doubtless,  by  the  charities  and  benevolent  exertions  of  those 


104 

religious  communities,  which  are  blessed  with  the  institutions 
of  the  Gospel. 

The  waste  places  of  Connecticut,  and  the  duty  of  building 
them,  will  be  the  subject  of  consideration  in  this  discourse.* 
That  there  are  desolations  in  this  State,  will  not  be  question- 
ed by  any  minutely  acquainted  with  our  circumstances. 
Not  a  few  societies  have  ceased  to  hear  those  doctrines  of 
the  Gospel,  by  the  instrumentality'  of  which  the  Spirit  of  God 
awakens,  converts,  and  sanctifies  men.  A  number  of  churches 
have  become  feeble,  and,  by  hard  struggling,  prolong  from 
year  to  year  the  enjoyment  of  divine  institutions ;  while 
some  have  long  since  fallen,  and  are  now  lying  in  utter 
desolation. 

The  building  of  these  wastes  will  include  the  propagation 
of  the  truth,  the  communication  of  strength  to  the  feeble,  and 
the  restoration  of  fallen  societies  to  the  order  of  the  Gospel. 

In  the  illustration  of  the  subject  it  is  proposed  to  consider, 

I.  The  causes  of  these  desolations. 

II.  The  means  of  restoring  them. 

III.  The  motives  to  immediate  exertion  for  that  purpose. 

The  immediate  causes  are,  evidently,  the  difference  of 
religious  sentiment  and  worship  which  prevails,  connected 
with  a  criminal  indifference  to  the  institutions  of  the  Gospel. 

There  is  not,  in  the  State,  a  town  or  parish  unable  to 
support  the  Gospel  constantly,  and  with  ease,  provided  all  the 
families  in  the  limits  of  each  were  of  one  heart  and  of  one 
way  to  serve  the  Lord.  But  the  property,  in  many  societies, 
is  divided  between  three  or  four  different  denominations, 
beside  a  part,  which  the  love  of  money  and  indifference  to 
the  Gospel  wholly  withdraw  from  the  support  of  divine  insti- 
tutions. The  consequence  is,  the  decline,  and  in  some  cases, 
the  entire  subversion  of  that  religious  order  which  our  fathers 
established. 

*  The  remarks  applied  lo  this  Stale,  are,  with  slight  modification,  applicable  to 
New  England  generally  ;  but  it  is  thought  best  to  preserve  the  local  references. 


105 

But  by  what  causes  has  this  change  in  the  religious  opinions 
and  habits  of  the  people  been  accomplished  f  The  fa- 
thers of  Connecticut  came  here  on  purpose  to  establish  and 
perpetuate  that  religious  order,  which  is,  still,  the  prevailing 
order  in  the  State.  They  were  united  in  their  views  of 
doctrine  and  discipline,  were  strongly  attached  to  the  religious 
order  they  had  established,  and,  with  singular  wisdom,  pro- 
vided for  its  perpetuity.  Believing  godliness  to  be  profitable 
to  the  life  that  now  is,  and  ignorance  and  irrellgion  to  be 
crimes  against  the  State,  they  required  by  law  every  society 
to  support  the  Gospel,  and  every  family  to  contribute  its  pro- 
portion, and  to  attend  statedly  upon  its  ministrations.  In  the 
formation  of  a  new  settlement,  even  if  it  consisted  of  not  more 
than  twenty  families,  a  minister,  a  meeting-house,  and  a 
school-house,  were  deemed  as  indispensable  as  their  own 
dwellings.  Thus  organized,  for  more  than  a  century  Zion 
was  a  city  compactly  builded  ;  and  friends  and  foes  might, 
with  different  emotions,  "  go  round  about  her,  and  tell  her 
towers,  and  mark  her  bulwarks,  and  consider  her  palaces." 
By  what  causes,  then,  have  these  changes  been  accomplish- 
ed ?  The  most  efficacious  are,  doubtless,  remote ;  have 
operated  silently  and  slowly,  and  produced  their  results  at 
periods  so  distant,  as  almost  to  elude  observation. 

In  bringing  them  into  view,  no  unkind  feelings  are  indulged 
towards  Christians  of  other  denominations,  and  nothing  dis- 
respectful or  injurious  is  intended ;  the  importance  of  the 
subject  requires  the  investigation  to  be  conducted  with  the 
verity  T)f  the  historian,  and  the  fidelity  of  the  surgeon,  who 
wounds  only  to  heal. 

A  remote  cause  of  our  present  wastes  is  to  be  found  in  a 
very  great  declension  of  vital  piety  in  the  churches,  which 
took  place  many  years  ago.  For  more  than  one  hundred 
years,  the  pastors  and  churches  of  Connecticut  were  strictly 
evangelical ;  but  at  length,  different  views  concerning  doc- 
trine began  to  prevail.  This  was  occasioned  by  an  alarming 
suspension  for   many   years,  of  the  special  influence   of  the 


106 

Spirit,  and  by  the  expedients  of  human  wisdom  to  replenish 
the  churches  without  the  agency  of  God.  One  effect  of  this 
decHne  was,  the  introduction  into  the  ministry  of  men,  who 
probably  had  never  experienced  the  power  of  divine  grace 
on  their  hearts,  and  who,  of  course,  would  be  prepared  by 
native  feeling  to  oppose  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  From 
such,  nothing  better  could  be  expected  than  a  cold,  formal, 
unfaithful,  unproductive  ministry,  and  a  gradual  approxima- 
tion to  another  Gospel.  Those  precious  truths  which  are 
the  power  of  God  to  salvation,  were  first  omitted,  and  at 
length  openly  opposed.  The  consequence  was,  that  "  the 
love  of  many  waxed  cold,  and  the  ways  of  Zion  mourned, 
because  few  came  to  her  solemn  feasts."  Alarmed  at  the 
declining  numbers  of  the  church,  and  the  corresponding 
increase  of  the  unbaptized,  our  fathers,  with  pious  intent 
doubtless,  but  with  a  most  unwarrantable  distrust  of  God  and 
dependence  on  human  wisdom,  introduced  what  has  since 
been  denominated  the  half-way  covenant.  According  to  the 
provisions  of  this  anomaly  in  religion,  persons  of  a  regular 
deportment,  though  destitute  of  piety,  might  be  considered 
as  church  members,  and  offer  their  children  in  baptism, 
without  coming  to  the  sacramental  supper;  for  which,  piety 
was  still  deemed  indispensable.  The  effect  was,  that  owning 
the  covenant  as  it  was  called,  became  a  common,  thoughtless 
ceremony ;  and  baptism  was  extended  to  all  who  had  either 
sufficient  regard  to  fashion  or  to  self-righteous  doings  to  ask 
it  for  themselves  or  for  their  children.  As  to  the  promises 
of  educating  children  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  submitting 
to  the  discipline  of  the  church,  on  the  one  hand,  or  of 
watchful  care  on  the  other,  they  were  alike  disregarded  both 
by  those  who  exacted,  and  by  those  who  made  them. 
Others,  alarmed  by  the  same  declension  of  numbers  in  the 
visible  church,  and  leaning  equally  to  their  own  under- 
standing to  provide  a  remedy,  discovered,  as  they  imagined, 
that  grace  is  not  necessary  to  the  participation  of  either 
ordinance ;  that  there   is  but  one  covenant,  the  condition  of 


107 

which  might  be  moral  sincerity,  and  that  the  sacrament  of 
the  supper,  liice  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  might  be  num- 
bered among  the  means  of  grace  for  the  conversion  of  the 
soul.  With  these  views,  the  doors  of  the  church  were 
thrown  open,  and  all  the  congregation  who  could  be,  were 
persuaded  to  come  in. 

These  innovations  in  church  order,  though  resisted  by- 
many  and  not  introduced  without  considerable  agitation, 
became  at  length  almost  universal  throughout  New  England. 
The  consequences  were  what  might  be  expected,  where 
sinners  are  countenanced  in  drawing  near  to  God  with  their 
mouths,  while  their  heart  is  removed  far  from  him,  and 
their  fear  towards  him  is  taught  by  the  precepts  of  men  ; 
they  were,  the  annihilation  of  church  discipline,  and  the 
prevalence  of  Arminian  feelings  and  opinions,  mingled  with 
the  disjointed  remains  of  evangelical  doctrine.  Without  an 
absolute  rejection  of  the  doctrines  of  grace,  the  preaching, 
and  the  feeling,  and  the  practice,  to  a  great  extent  were, 
"  do  and  live.^^  Good  works  and  the  dilatory  use  of  means 
occupied  the  foreground,  while  the  Holy  Spirit  waited  at 
humble  distance,  to  accomplish  the  little  which  remained  to 
be  done  as  the  reward  or  promised  consequence  of  antece- 
dent well  doing.  So  alarming  had  this  declension  of  vital 
piety  become  in  the  days  of  Cotton  Mather,  as  to  occasion 
the  memorable  prediction,  that  in  forty  years,  should  it 
progress  as  it  had  done,  convulsions  would  ensue,  in  which 
churches  would  be  gathered  out  of  churches  ; — a  prediction 
afterwards  signally  verified.  For  in  the  year  1740,  it 
pleased  the  God  of  our  fathers  to  visit  the  churches  of  New 
England  by  the  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But 
this  joyful  event  which  commenced  the  restoration  of  evan- 
gehcal  doctrine  and  discipline,  and  planted  the  seeds  of  those 
revivals  which  still  prevail,  was,  through  the  weakness  of 
some  and  the  wickedness  of  many,  made  the  occasion  of 
evils  which  are  felt  to  this  day. — I  allude  to  the  opposition 
which  was  made  to  this  work  of  God  by  the  unconverted, 


108 

the  formal  and  the  timid  j  the  prejudices  it  excited  against  a 
learned  ministry  and  the  congregational  order ;  the  intempe- 
rate zeal  it  enkindled  ;  the  separations  it  occasioned,  which 
rent  many  churches,  and  laid  the  foundation  for  that  diversity 
of  religious  opinion  and  worship,  which  has  so  unhappily  en- 
feehled  some  churches  and  hrought  others  to  desolation. 

Until  these  separations,  which  a  proper  zeal  and  prudence 
on  the  part  of  the  pastors  might  have  easily  prevented,  the 
ancient  external  order  of  the  churches  remained  with  but 
little  variation  or  prejudice  against  it.  The  inhabitants  of 
the  same  town  or  parish  were  of  one  denomination,  and 
w^orshipped  together  in  the  sanctuary  which  their  fathers  had 
built.  But  now,  driven  from  their  ordinary  course  by  a 
repulsion  so  violent,  the  separatist  became,  for  a  season, 
the  subject  of  an  enthusiasm  which  defied  restraint  and 
despised  order.  In  these  new  societies  awoke  that  spirit  of 
proselytism  which  has  outlived  them,  and  those  deeprooted 
prejudices  against  a  learned  ministry,  and  those  revilings  of  a 
hireling  priesthood  and  the  standing  order,  and  those  com- 
plaints of  persecution,  which  have  not  wholly  ceased  to  this 
day.  Built  up  however,  by  the  zeal  of  an  emergency,  and 
destined  to  ultimate  decay,  they  were  still  prevented  by  a 
strong  aversion  from  coalescing  with  the  regular  churches, 
and  of  course,  laid  the  foundation,  and  furnished  the  materials 
to  build  up  the  several  denominations  which  now  prevail  in 
the  State. 

A  beginning  having  once  been  made — a  small  society  of 
whatever  name  being  once  established,  various  causes  would 
naturally  contribute  to  perpetuate  and  enlarge  it.  All  who 
were  fond  of  novelty  and  given  to  change,  could  now  make 
experiment  how  it  would  seem  to  worship  God  in  some  new 
way  ;  and  every  one,  who  by  any  means,  became  dissatisfied 
with  his  minister,  or  the  deacon,  or  the  church,  or  any 
member  of  the  society,  could  take  a  speedy  revenge  by 
going  to  another  denomination.  The  covetous,  constrained 
by  law  to  pay,  against  their  inclination,  for  the  support  of  the 


109 

Gospel,  soon  learned  to  plead  a  tender  conscience,  in  order 
to  save  their  money,  and  joined  themselves  to  the  denomi- 
nation which  could  help  them  on  to  heaven  at  the  least 
expense. 

As  another  cause  of  debility  and  desolation,  may  be  noted 
the  defections  occasioned  by  the  restoration  of  evangelical 
doctrine  and  discipline.  The  revivals  of  1740  were  the 
commencement  of  a  reformation  in  this  State,  which  has 
brought  the  churches  back  to  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of 
our  fathers.  A  change  so  great,  however,  and  so  contrary  to 
human  depravity,  fortified  as  it  was  by  custom,  was  not  to  be 
accomplished  without  resistance.  Accustomed  to  the  immu- 
nities of  the  half  way  covenant,  and  pleased  with  this  self- 
righteous,  dilatory  method  of  preparation  for  heaven,  the 
unconverted  were  alarmed  at  the  demands  of  immediate 
repentance,  and  offended  at  the  distinction  which  now  began 
to  be  made  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  It  was 
not  till  after  nearly  half  a  century  of  controversy,  in  the 
progress  of  which  many  churches  were  shaken,  and  many 
societies  enfeebled,  that  the  point  became  established,  that  a 
credible  profession  of  religion  is  indispensable  to  church 
membership  ;  and  that  the  seals  of  the  covenant  are  to  be 
applied  to  none  but  the  members  of  the  visible  church  and 
their  children.  , 

Another  cause  of  desolation,  more  limited  in  its  operation, 
but  not  less  disastrous  in  its  effects  where  it  has  operated,  has 
been,  the  timid  policy  of  forbearing  to  preach  plainly  those 
doctrines  which  offend,  and  of  shrinking  from  a  vigilant,  effi- 
cient discipline  in  the  church,  lest  these  things  should  inter- 
rupt the  peace,  and  endanger  the  stability  of  the  congregation. 
It  has  been  called  prudence ;  but  experience  has  shown  it 
to  be  a  prudence,  which,  in  the  beginning,  surrenders  at 
discretion  to  the  enemy,  to  keep  him  quiet ;  which  substitutes 
policy  for  duty,  and  relies  on  temporising  expedients,  instead 
of  the  protection  and  blessing  of  God,  in  the  fearless  per- 
formance of  duty.  The  uniform  effect  has  been,  weak  hands 
lo 


110 

and  a  faint  heart  to  the  minister  ;  the  loss  of  personal  useful- 
ness, the  suspension  of  divine  influence,  the  decline  of  vital 
piety,  immorality  and  error  in  the  church,  and  impiety  and 
licentiousness  without ;  until,  at  the  death  or  dismission  of 
the  pastor,  the  church  has  become  almost  extinct,  and  the 
congregation  is  conducted  to  the  verge  of  ruin. 

A  later  cause  of  decline  and  desolation  has  been  the  in- 
sidious influence  of  infidel  philosophy.  The  mystery  of 
iniquity  had,  in  Europe,  been  operating  for  a  long  time.  The 
unclean  spirits  had  commenced  their  mission^o  the  kings  of 
the  earth,  to  gather  them  together  to  the  battle  of  the  great 
day  of  God  Almighty.  But  when  that  mighty  convulsion 
took  place  which  a  second  time  burst' open  the  bottomless 
pit,  and  spread  darkness  and  dismay  over  Europe,  every 
gale  brought  to  our  shores  contagion  and  death.  Thousands, 
at  once,  breathed  the  tainted  air,  and  felt  the  fever  kindle  in 
the  brain.  A  paroxysm  of  moral  madness  and  terrific  inno- 
vation ensued.  In  the  phrensy  of  perverted  vision,  every  foe 
appeared  a  friend,  and  every  friend  a  foe.  No  maxims  were 
deemed  too  wise  to  be  abandoned,  none  too  horrid  to  be 
adopted ;  no  foundations  too  deep  laid  to  be  torn  up,  and  no 
superstructure  too  venerable  to  be  torn  down,  that  another, 
such  as,  in  Europe,  they  were  rearing  with  bones  and  blood, 
'might  be  built.  As  the  institutions  of  Connecticut,  however, 
were  built  upon  a  rock,  and  were  defended  by  thousands  not 
yet  bereft  of  common  sense  and  moral  principle,  a  kw  ex- 
periments evinced  that  such  foundations  could  be  shaken 
only  by  the  slow  progress  of  undermining.  It  remained, 
therefore,  to  extend  the  mania  till  it  should  subtract  from 
their  defence,  and  add  to  the  host  of  assailants  a  number  suffi- 
cient to  accomplish  the  work.  With  great  feigned  reverence, 
therefore,  were  the  Bible  and  catechetical  instruction  exiled 
from  the  school.  The  polluted  page  of  infidelity  everywhere 
met  the  eye,  while  its  sneers  and  blasphemies  assailed  the 
car.  The  specious  argument  of  leaving  children  uninstruct- 
ed,  that  they  might  at  a  riper  age,  choose  their  own  religion 


Ill 

without  bias,  gave  leisure  for  depravity  to  mature  its  alienating 
prejudices,  for  lies  to  extend  their  influence,  and  for  vicious 
habits  to  establish  their  unresisted  dominion.  The  result  was 
a  brood  of  infidels,  and  heretics,  and  profligates  ;  a  generation 
prepared  to  be  carried  about,  as  they  have  been,  by  every 
wind  of  doctrine,  and  to  assail,  as  they  have  done,  our  most 
sacred  institutions. 

But  the  time  at  length  arrived,  when  all  the  preceding 
causes  were  enlisted  as  auxiliaries  merely,  and  invested  with 
double  potency,  by  political  violence  and  alienation. 

The  origin  and  progress  of  these  collisions  of  party  need 
not  be  traced,  nor  is  it  the  object  of  this  discourse  to  weigh 
the  contending  parties  in  the  scales  of  justice,  to  ascertain 
their  relative  guilt,  and  measure  out  a  retribution — a  work 
which  belongs  to  God  and  the  judgment  of  the  great  day. 
But  the  effects  of  this  unhappy  controversy  have  been  such 
upon  this  once  peaceful  State,  that  the  combatants  on  both 
sides,  have  occasion  to  sit  down  and  weep  together  over  the 
desolations  which  the  conflict  has  occasioned  :  for  it  has  been 
keen  and  dreadful,  and,  like  the  varying  conflict  of  battle, 
has  marred  and  trodden  down  whatever  has  stood  within 
the  range  of  its  commotion.  On  every  field  over  which  it 
swept,  abiding  traces  are  left  of  its  desolating  career,  families 
divided,  neighbors  and  friends  fimbittered,  ministers  and  people 
alienated,  churches  divided,  and  the  numbers  of  seceding 
denominations  multiplied,  with  all  those  bitter  feelings  which 
contention  and  wounds  are  calculated  to  inspire.  At  the 
present  moment,  there  is  scarcely  an  ecclesiastical  society  in 
the  State  which  has  not  experienced  a  diminution  of  its  num- 
bers, or  a  seceding  denomination,  which  has  not  been  estab- 
lished or  augmented  by  these  political  contentions. 

To  the  preceding  causes  must  be  added,  if  we  speak  the 
whole  truth,  the  direct  enterprise  of  religious  denominations 
to  augment  their  numbers. 

Feeling  as  all  minorities  ever  have  felt,  and  impatient  to 
exchange  the  inconveniences  of  weakness  for  the  advantages 


112 

attached  to  numbers,  and  confident,  as  all  denominations  are, 
of  being  exactly  right,  a  deceitful  heart  might  easily  mistake 
the  combined  impulse  of  proselyting  zeal  and  restless  ambi- 
tion, for  unmingled  zeal  for  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  and  might 
verily  think  that  many  things  ought  to  be  done  to  pull  down 
the  standing  order;  which  things,  also,  as  the  circumstances 
of  the  times  have  favored,  have  been  done. 

The  operation  of  all  these  causes  has  been  greatly  facil- 
itated by  the  change  made  in  the  law  for  the  support  of  the 
Gospel,  in  order  to  accommodate  it  to  the  changes  in  rehgious 
opinion  which  had  gradually  taken  place  in  the  State.  It 
was  the  fundamental  maxim  of  the  fathers  of  this  State,  that 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is,  in  a  civil  point  of  view,  a  great 
blessing  to  the  community,  for  the  support  of  which,  all 
should  contribute  according  to  their  several  abihty.  This 
law,  while  the  inhabitants  of  the  State  were  all  of  one  religious 
creed,  was  entirely  efficacious,  and  secured  to  the  people  of 
the  State,  at  least,  four  times  the  amount  of  religious  instruc- 
tion which  has  ever  been  known  to  be  the  result  of  mere 
voluntary  associations  for  die  support  of  the  Gospel.* 

*  It  has  been  said  that  the  Gospel  will  support  itself,  and  that  civil  laws  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  support  of  the  Gospel.  If  it  be  meant  that  the  Gospel  will 
exist  in  the  world  thougi)  vie  should  neglect  to  support  it  in  Connecticut,  it  is  true  ; 
but  if  the  meaning  be,  liiat  God  will  continue  to  us  a  faithful  ministry  and  bestow 
his  blessing  upon  it,  though  \v3  sliould  withhold  the  means  for  its  competent  support, 
it  is  not  true.  The  certam  continuance  of  the  Gospel  in  the  world,  no  more  ensures 
its  continuance  where  the  proper  means  are  neglected,  than  the  certain  continuance 
of  seed  time  and  harvest  in  the  world,  prove  that  the  people  of  Connecticut  may 
neglect  to  plough  and  sow,  and  still  expect  an  abundant  harvest. 

And  with  respect  to  the  manner  in  which  religious  instruction  shall  be  provided, 
no  plan  has  ever  3et  been  adopted  so  efl'ectual  as  legislative  provisions,  which  shut 
out  individual  discretion,  and  require  every  man  to  pay  for  the  support  of  the  Gospel 
according  to  his  properly.  The  experiment  has  been  fairly  made  on  our  right  hand 
and  on  our  left,  of  what  may  be  expected  from  voluntary  associations  and  contribu- 
tions tor  the  support  of  divine  institutions  ;  and  the  result  is,  that  at  least  four  times 
more  religious  instruction  is  secured  by  legal  provision,  than  has  ever  been  provided 
to  any  considerable  extent  by  voluntary  discretion.  Even  in  this  State,  since  the  eva- 
sion of  the  law  has  become  practicable  and  common,  the  amount  of  religious  instruc- 
tion provided  by  themselves  by  that  portion  of  our  population  who  have  reserved 
to  their  own  discretion  what  they  will  give,  has  dwindled  in  nearly  the  same  pro- 
portion. One  sabbath  in  three  is  probaijl3'  about  the  medium  amount  of  religious 
instruction  which  they  think  tit  to  provide  for  themselves  or  their  families,  or,  to 
use  their  own  language,  which  the  Gospel  '  provides  for  iiself.'  This  too,  is  falling  off, 
in  the  face  of  a  general,  contrary  example,  and  in  spite  of  antecedent  education  and 
habit.  What  then  is  to  be  expected  from  the  next  generation,  and  what  is  to  be  the 
destiny  of  this  State  and  its  institutions,  should  an  increasing  portion  of  our  population 
grow  up  in  such  comparative  ignorance?  If  any  portion  of  the  instruction  which 
God  has  provided  for  men  is  important,  the  whole  is  proportionably  more  important. 
If  one  sabbath  in  throe  is  impoitant,  each  of  die  other  two  is  equully  important ;  if 


113 

But,  at  length,  the  multipHcation  of  other  denominations 
demanded  such  a  modification  of  the  law,  as  should  permit 
every  man  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his 
conscience,  and  compel  him  to  pay  only  for  the  support  of 
the  Gospel  in  his  own  denomination.  The  practical  effect 
has  been,  to  liberate  all  conscientious  dissenters  from  sup- 
porting a  worship  which  they  did  not  approve — which  the 
law  intended  ;  and  to  liberate  a  much  greater  number  with- 
out conscience,  from  paying  for  the  support  of  the  Gospel 
anywhere,  and  progressively  to  diminish  the  amount  of  re- 
ligious instruction  and  moral  influence  in  the  State — a  thing 
which  the  law  did  not  intend.  While  it  accommodates  the 
conscientious  feelings  of  ten,  it  accommodates  the  angry, 
revengeful,  avaricious,  and  irrehgious  feelings  of  fifty ;  and 
threatens  by  a  silent,  constant  operation,  to  undermine  the 
deep-laid  foundations  of  our  civil  and  religious  order. 

The  vital  principle  of  our  system,  that  every  man  shall  pay 
according  to  his  property  for  the  support  of  religious  instruc- 
tion, as  a  pubhc  civil  benefit,  and  for  the  preservation  of 
morals   and   good  order   in  the  State,  is  gone.     Every  man 

a  total  loss  of  sabbaths  would  be  a  calamity,  the  loss  of  two  out  of  three  is  a  calamity 
of  equal  relative  amount ;  if  two  sabbaths'  instruction  lost  is  of  no  consequence,  the 
one  sabbath  enjoyed  is  of  no  consequence,  and  the  sabbath  itself  is  good  for  nothing. 
Ho  far  as  religious  instruction  on  the  sabbath  is  the  cause  of  religious  knowledge  and 
of  moral  habits,  nothing  can  be  anticipated  but  the  increase  of  ignorance,  and  irre- 
ligion,  and  immorality,  in  proportion  to  the  decline  of  the  means  of  instruction  and 
restraint.  Nor  is  this  all ;  the  families  who  have  worship  to  attend  only  one  sabbath 
in  three,  will  not  attend  that  sabbath  as  punctually,  as  those  who  attend  statedl}',  upon 
weekly  instruction.  Two  sabbaths  of  indolence,  and  vagrancy  of  thought  and  con- 
duct, will  more  than  dissipate  the  instruction  and  etface  the  impression  of  the  third. 
No  community  and  no  family  by  observing  only  one  sabbath  in  three,  can  hold  their 
own  against  the  current  of  depravity  and  the  power  of  temptation. 

If  these  views  are  correct,  it  is  deplorable  to  witness  with  what  thoughtlessness  and 
disregard  of  consequences,  men  will  cut  themselves  off,  and  cut  off  their  families,  and, 
by  consequence,  successive  generations  of  posterity,  from  at  least  two  thirds  the 
amount  of  that  religious  instruction  and  restraint  which  God  has  provided  to  bless 
them  in  time,  and  to  qualify  them  lor  heaven.  All  this  would  be  lamentable,  if  the 
remaining  portion  of  instruction  was  as  good  in  matter  and  manner,  as  the  whole, 
which  they  have  abandoned.  But  in  the  fi^verish  haste  of  revenge,  or  the  narrowness 
of  avaricious  savings,  how  little  is  thought  of  the  importance  of  truth.  Oh  !  'tis 
enough  to  make  angels  weep,  to  see  whole  families  of  precious,  inmiortal  children, 
unconscious  of  their  doom,  cut  of3"al  once  by  this  rash  act  of  a  father  from  the  hearing 
of  the  truth,  to  famish  by  hearing  nothing,  or  to  be  poisoned  by  hearing  error.  Oh! 
how  will  such  rash  deeds  appear  in  the  day  of  judgment,  when  the  wretched  father, 
undone  by  his  folly,  shall  find  himself  surrounded  by  his  family',  ruined  by  his  auger, 
or  destroyed  by  his  parsimony  !  How  must  their  agony  torture  him,  and  their  cries 
harrow  up  his  soul !  What  imprecations  from  a  long  line  of  descendants,  will  assail 
his  ears,  and  what  anguish  wring  his  heart,  while  he  goes  away  with  them  into  ever- 
lasting punishment,  ''  where  iheir  worm  dieth  not  and  their  fire  is  not  quenched  I  " 


114 

who  chooses  to  do  it,  withdraws,  by  a  little  management,  his 
whole  tax  from  the  support  of  the  Gospel ;  and  the  result  is 
lamentably  manifest,  in  the  muUiplication  of  feeble  societies 
and  waste  places.  It  has  taught  also  the  malicious  and  the 
irreligious  the  art  of  breaking  down  societies,  and  multiplying 
by  design,  our  desolations. 

The  last  cause  which  I  shall  mention  is  the  remedy  which 
has  too  often  been  applied  to  rescue  declining  congregations  and 
raise  waste  places.  The  common  policy  has  been,  to  settle  a 
minister  upon  an  incompetent  salary,  with  the  expectation  that 
he  will  support  himself,  in  part,  by  his  own  exertions  ;  and 
the  consequence,  which  might  have  been  anticipated,  has 
usually  been,  that  the  habit  of  worldly  care  which  necessity 
began,  becomes  a  habit  of  worldliness  which,  in  some  eases, 
renders  the  ministry  a  secondary  consideration.  Gain  is  sub- 
stituted for  godliness,  and  preaching  the  Gospel  becomes  a 
convenient  auxiliary  in  the  system  of  accumulating  money. 
The  man  has  become  a  thriving  farmer,  an  able  school-mas- 
ter, a  sagacious  speculator,  but  has  long  since  ceased  to  be  a 
faithful  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  His  thoughts,  his  heart, 
his  time,  are  devoted  to  secular  pursuits,  while  with  his  lips 
only,  he  deals  out,  one  day  in  seven,  cold  commendations  of 
that  religion  whose  interests  he  betrays.  But  the  more  com- 
mon effect  is,  that  his  ministry  embarrasses  his  worldly  en- 
terprise, and  his  worldly  enterprise  his  ministry  so  much, 
that  both  become  comparatively  unfruhful.  He  cannot  pur- 
sue his  worldly  business  to  the  best  advantage,  because  he  is 
a  minister,  and  he  cannot  pursue  the  work  of  the  m'inistry  to 
advantage,  because  he  is  a  farmer ;  the  combined  result  is,  a 
bare  support  with  a  double  tax  of  care,  few  books  and  no 
leisure  to  read  them,  little  time  for  study  and  that  of  little 
value,  from  the  impossibility  of  putting  in  requisition  at  a 
moment's  warning,  the  resources  of  a  mind  vexed  with  cease- 
less perplexities,  and  long  since  a  stranger  to  habits  of  study. 
He  laments  his  situation,  longs  to  devote  himself  to  his  work, 
hopes  for  better  days,  while  every  year  brings  new  conviction 


115 

that  they  will  never  come.  In  this  unequal  stfu2;c;le,  hig 
days  of  improvement  pass  away  ;  his  mind  is  undisciplined,  his 
heart  cold  and  formal,  his  sermons  unpopular  abroad  and 
irksome  at  home.  .  He  neglects  to  visit  his  people,  for  he  has 
no  time  ;  he  neglects  meetings  for  prayer,  and  the  main 
spring  being  removed,  all  the  movements  which  are  the  life 
of  religion  stop.  In  proportion  also,  as  he  does  less  for  his 
people,  he  loves  them  less,  and  their  affection  for  him  de- 
clines in  the  same  degree  ;— and  now  sectarians,  with  flaming 
zeal,  break  in  upon  his  charge,  and  preach,  and  pray,  and 
visit,  and  do  just  those  things  to  alienate  his  people,  which 
'ought  to  have  been  done  to  attach  them  to  himself,  and  to 
one  another.  Alarmed  at  this  furious  onset,  he  hurls  from 
the  pulpit  unavailing  invectives  against  the  foe,  and  makes 
some  feeble  exertions  to  prevent  a  defection,  which  hard 
names  will  only  extend.  But  it  is  all  too  late — the  kind 
attention,  by  which  he  might  once  have  bound  his  people  to 
himself  forever,  has  been  exhibited  by  a  stranger,  who  has 
stolen  away  their  hearts  by  an  irretrievable  delusion.  And 
now,  his  little  salary  presses  hard  upon  the  diminished  num- 
ber of  his  people,  is  poorly  paid,  and  operates  as  a  constant 
temptation  to  increased  defection.  Alarmed  at  their  danger^ 
his  people  complain  that  he  does  not  visit  them,  and  take 
pains  to  hold  the  congregation  together ;  and  he,  in  return, 
complains  that  they  have  not  enabled  him  to  do  it,  by  provid- 
ing for  him  a  competent  support,  or  even  by  the  punctual  pay- 
ment of  the  pittance  stipulated.  Complaint  begets  complaint, 
and  crimination  begets  crimination,  until  at  length  the  crisis 
arrives  ; — his  people,  weakened  by  defections,  can  no  longer 
raise  his  little  salary  ;  and  he,  by  the  most  strenuous  exer- 
tions, cannot  do  without  it.  Of  course  a  council  is  called,  and 
the  pastoral  relation  is  dissolved.  Tiie  pastor,  in  the  decline 
of  life,  with  a  large  family,  goes  an  exile  to  the  wilderness,  or 
settles  in  some  other  declining  church,  to  repeat  the  same  ex- 
periment, and,  unless  death  prevents,  to  witness  the  same  re- 
sult.    The  society,  which  by  a  trifling  additional  effort  might 


116 

have  commanded  the  whole  time  of  their  pastor,  and  become 
yearly  stronger  ;  have,  by  their  injudicious  parsimony,  fritter- 
ed away  their  strength  and  brought  themselves  to  desolation — 
have  dug  their  own  grave,  and  He  down  in  it  to  awake  no 
more.  One  half  the  time  of  a  minister  who  devotes  his  whole 
time  to  his  appropriate  work,  would  be  more  efficacious  to 
build  up  a  declining  society,  than  all  the  scraps  of  time  which 
any  man,  compelled  to  support  himself  in  part,  can  possibly 
rescue  from  the  toils  and  cares  of  worldly  avocations.  The 
success  of  a  minister  depends  much,  under  God,  upon  the 
state  of  his  mind  and  his  heart — a  mind  disciplined  by  study, 
and  a  heart  warmed  by  action  in  his  blessed  work  :  a  state  of 
mind  and  heart  which  cannot  be  preserved  amid  the  distrac- 
tions of  care,  and  the  din  of  business,  and  which  cannot  be 
commanded  for  immediate  use,  the  moment  he  sits  down  in 
his  study,  or  steps  from  the  world  into  his  pulpit. 

It  would  be  far  better,  where  it  can  be  done,  that  two  fee- 
ble societies  should  unite  in  the  competent  support  of  one 
man,  commanding  between  them,  the  whole  time  and  all  the 
talents  of  their  pastor,  than  to  prolong  in  both,  a  ministry 
without  its  appropriate  duties  and  blessings,  until  both  are 
brought  to  desolation. 

We  are  to  consider 

II.  The  means  by  which  the  wastes,  in  this  State,  may  be 
built. 

And  here,  suffer  me  to  suggest  as  a  measure  of  great  utility, 
not  to  the  desolate  merely,  but  to  all  the  churches,  the  occa- 
sional itineration  of  the  stated  pastors  within  the  hmits  of 
each  association,  and  by  exchanges  into  other  associations, 
and  in  different  parts  of  the  State.  A  ministry  entirely  mi- 
gratory, though  it  possess  some  advantages,  is  defective,  and 
so  also  is  a  mhiistry  wholly  stationary.  A  system  which 
should  retain  all  the  benefits  of  stability,  and  at  the  same 
time  avail  itself  of  the  peculiar  adv^antages  of  itineracy,  would 
approach,  it  is  believed,  nearest  to  perfection.     But  such   a 


117 

system  might,  with  the  utmost  case,  be  established  in  this 
State.  Partial  experiments  have  been  made  already,  and 
always  with  singularly  happy  effects.  A  religious  enterprise 
of  this  kind,  breaks  in  upon  the  lethargy  which  is  apt  to 
invade  the  mind  too  long  conversant  with  the  same  place, 
objects,  and  duties.  It  creates  a  more  minute,  and  yet  ex- 
tended knowledge,  of  the  state  of  the  churches,  and  a  stronger 
interest  in  their  welfare  ;  while  it  awakens  to  new  zeal  and 
enterprise  among  their  own  people,  both  those  who  itinerate, 
and  those  who  are  cheered  by  their  coming.* 

For  the  special  benefit  of  destitute,  feeble  congregations, 
a  concert  might  be  formed  by  ministers  in  the  vicinity,  which 
should  extend  to  them  a  course  of  parochial  visits  once  or 
twice  a  year ;  to  which  might  be  added  a  stated  lecture  up- 
held by  concert,  once  a  month,  and,  in  many  cases,  every 
week.  Four  ministers,  by  spending  each  one  week  in  a 
vacant  congregation,  might  catechise  all  the  schools,  and  visit 
all  the  families,  at  least  once  a  year  ;  and  by  preaching  only 
three  lectures,  each  might  convene  the  people  twelve  times  a 
year,  to  be  instructed  and  cheered  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  How  great  would  be  the  amount  of  instruction  thus 
communicated,  and  of  religious  and  moral  influence  thus 
exerted  ?  What  confidence  would  it  inspire  in  the  pastors  of 
the  churches  ;  what  affection  would  it  create,  what  gratitude 
awaken,  what  opportunities  to  advise  and  what  influence 
would  it  give  to  ministers,  to  preserve  and  build  up  decayed 
congregations  ?  How  benign,  especially  upon  the  I'ising 
generation,    would  be  such   gratuitous   pastoral   attentions  ? 

*  Ilineralions  oftlie  aliove  description,  have  been  repeatedly  practised  in  both  the 
associations  of  Litchfield  county,  and  in  ever}'  instance  have  been  attended  by  the 
happiest  effects.  The  revivals  which  prevailed  in  this  county  from  the  year  1798  to 
1800,  were,  in  many  instances,  begun,  and  in  all,  happily  promoted  by  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  such  itinerations.  In  the  State  of  New  Jersey  also,  two  seasons  of  exten- 
sive revivals  were  begun  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  a  similar  system  of  special 
enterprise.  Two  ministers  liave  in  all  cases  been  united  in  the  same  tour  :  and 
latterly  the  churches  have  had  previous  notice  of  the  commencement  and  continuance 
of  the  tour,  and  have  devoted  a  portion  of  time  each  evening,  between  the  hours 
of  seven  and  eight,  to  a  concert  of  secret  praijer  to  God  for  his  blessing  upon  the  enter- 
prise ;  and  not  unfrequently,  while  they  have  been  yet  speaking,  the  answer  has 
been  granted.  In  all  cases  the  churches  have  been  refreshed  and  animated  by  such 
visits,  and  a  more  extensive  attention  produced,  than  would  have  been  coinmamlcd 
l)y  ordinary   lectures. 

16 


118 

How  much  impiety  and  immorality  might  be  thus  prevented  ? 

What  new  views  communicated — what  new  desires  awakened 
— what  new  hopes  excited — what  new  habits  formed  ?  To 
these  instructions  of  the  week,  might  be  added  stated  supphes 
for  some  time,  on  tlie  sabbath,  by  the  consent  of  surrounding 
churches.  Is  there  a  church  in  the  State  blessed  with  a 
stated  ministry,  which  would  not  rejoice  to  impart  the  bread 
of  two  sabbaths  to  a  destitute  sister  church  ;  or  a  minister 
who  would  not  travel,  once  or  twice  a  year,  ten  or  twenty 
miles,  to  supply  a  vacancy  ?  This  measure  alone  would  sen- 
sibly cheer  the  wastes  of  Zion,  without  the  least  pecuniary 
sacrifice,  or  any  sacrifice,  which  would  not  more  than  repay 
itself  in  the  good  done,  and  the  satisfaction  experienced  in 
doing  it. 

Another  means  of  restoration  may  be  found  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  evangelists,  whose  whole  time  shall  be  devoted  to 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  within  the  hmits  of  feeble  and 
destitute  congregations.  Their  access  to  these  wastes,  and 
their  continuance  in  them,  may  be  regulated  by  their  own 
discretion  ;  but  unquestionably,  the  time  of  several  evange- 
lists might  be  as  profitably  employed  in  this  State,  as  in  any 
region  to  which  missionaries  are  sent.  How  much  might 
they  do  to  cheer  the  pious,  to  encourage  the  desponding,  to 
remove  misconceptions,  to  eradicate  prejudices,  to  promote 
revivals  and  the  reformation  of  morals,  and  thus  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  established  order  of  the  Gospel  1  The  im- 
pulse thus  given  might  suffice,  in  many  cases,  to  produce  a 
speedy,  spontaneous  resurrection  ;  for  of  many  a  sister  church, 
w^e  trust  it  may  be  said,  "  she  is  not  dead  but  sleepeth." 

To  the  labors  of  evangelists  must  probably  be  added  in 
some  cases,  a  permanent,  stated  supply,  until  the  work  of  re- 
storation be  consummated.  It  is  a  long  continued  action  of 
inauspicious  causes  that  has  occasioned  desolations  in  certain 
cases,  and  nothing  but  a  stated,  counteracting,  salutary  influ- 
ence can  build  them  up. 

As  to  the  means  of  supporting  evangelists  and  stated  sup- 


119 

plies,  a  portion  of  the  expense,  and  probably  a  portion  annu- 
ally increasing  would  be  cheerfully  borne  by  the  people  who 
are  blessed  with  these  ministrations.  For  another  item  : — let 
each  association  in  the  State  open  a  treasury  for  the  purpose, 
and  each  church  in  the  association  cast  into  it  one  sacra- 
mental contribution  a  year,  enl?y:ged  as  it  would  readily  be 
for  that  purpose,  and  the  amount  would  employ  constantly 
several  evangelists,  to  cheer  the  wastes,  and  cause  the  heart  of 
the  desolate  to  sing.  This  single  measure  would,  ultimately, 
though  slowly,  raise  up  the  foundations  of  many  generations. 
It  would  command,  however,  but  a  small  portion  of  the  re- 
sources which  would  readily  be  furnished,  and  would  defer 
needlessly  a  consummation  so  devoutly  to  be  wished.  A 
general  society  might,  therefore,  be  formed  for  the  special 
purpose  of  building  up  the  wastes  of  the  State,  or,  should  it 
be  judged  most  expedient,  the  missionary  society  of  the  State 
might  be  authorised  to  hold  monies,  and  the  several  congre- 
gations to  make  annual  contributions  for  that  purpose.  The 
manner  may  be  a  subject  of  deliberation  at  the  proper  time, 
but  that  funds  can  be  raised  to  help  the  desolate — that  our 
ruins  can  be  built,  and  must  be  built,  does  not  admit  of  a 
doubt.  In  a  few  years,  should  no  calamity  defer  the  enter- 
prise, every  waste  may  be  built;  and  the  funds  raised  for  this 
purpose  be  consecrated  to  the  benevolent  work  of  building 
the  wastes  of  other  States,  and  other  lands. 

To  the  preceding  means  may  properly  be  added,  for  the 
purpose  of  preservation,  as  well  as  restoration,  the  special 
enterprise  of  ministers  in  the  performance  of  pastoral  duties. 

This  will  include  the  particular  regard  of  each  pastor  to 
the  wastes  within  his  own  limits.  Many  causes  conspire  to 
interrupt  the  attention  of  distant  villages  and  neighborhoods 
to  the  public  worship  of  God,  and  to  introduce  a  relaxation 
of  religious  and  moral  order.  To  counteract  these  effects  of 
local  circumstances,  occasional  visits  and  the  preaching  of 
lectures  are  indispensable.  Such  attention  is  an  act  of  justice 
to  the  distant  districts  of  a  congregation,  who  pay  equally  for 


120 

the  support  of  the  Gospel,  and  cannot,  without  some  such 
attention,  be  made  equally  partakers  of  its  blessings ;  it  con- 
ciliates affection  also,  and  binds  the  extremities  of  a  congre- 
gation to  the  sanctuary  of  their  fathers,  by  stronger  ligaments 
than  can  otherwise  be  found.  It  is  a  means  of  preservation 
too,  which,  if  not  employed  by  ourselves  to  unite,  will  infalli- 
bly be  employed  by  others  to  alienate  and  divide.  Great 
benefits  have  been  found  to  accrue  from  weekly  lectures  in 
different  districts  of  the  congregation.  They  contribute  very 
much  to  keep  alive  the  attention  of  the  people  to  the  sub- 
ject of  religion,  and  afford  to  the  pastor  opportunity  of  becom- 
ing more  intimately  acquainted  with  his  flock,  as  well  as  of 
approaching  their  consciences  in  a  more  plain  and  yet  forcible 
manner.  Such  assemblages  of  districts  promote  kind  affec- 
tions among  themselves,  accommodate  the  aged  and  the  fee- 
ble, and  call  up  the  attention  of  many  to  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion, and  allure  to  the  sanctuary  of  God  many,  who  otherwise 
might  have  slept  away  the  day  of  grace. 

We  may  not  in  this  place  omit  to  add  pastoral  visits,  as 
among  the  best  of  ministerial  duties  for  the  preservation  of 
the  church. 

There  is  no  congregation  where  they  may  not,  with  pru- 
dence, be  introduced ;  and  usually,  with  the  most  ardent 
approbation  of  the  people.  In  their  progress,  the  pastor 
enters  every  family  of  his  charge,  the  rich  and  the  poor  alike, 
to  pray  with  them,  catechise  the  children,  inquire  after  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  all,  and  to  communicate  such  advice,  ex- 
hortation, or  reproof,  as  the  circumstances  of  each  family 
shall  demand,  and  his  own  discretion  dictate.  Such  visits 
may,  unquestionably,  be  ranked  among  the  most  efficacious 
labors  of  a  minister  for  the  salvation  of  his  people.  They 
increase  greatly  his  affection  for  them.  They  make  him  ac- 
quainted with  the  children  of  his  charge,  and  furnish  a 
minuteness  of  information  not  otherwise  to  be  obtained,  and 
without  which,  he  could  not  be  quahfied  to  give  to  every  one 
his   portion  in  due  season.     They  will  occupy  indeed,  con- 


121 

siderabic  time ;  but  by  furnishing  a  variety  of  interesting  sub- 
jects, and  increased  facilities  of  composition,  they  will  redeem 
as  much  time  as  they  occupy.  Any  man  will  be  able  to 
preach  better  on  the  sabbath,  after  visiting  his  people  two 
days  in  the  week,  than  he  would  be,  had  his  whole  time  been 
devoted  to  study.  He  will  then  have  an  object  while  he 
writes,  and  when  he  speaks,  and  will  write  and  speak  with  an 
animation,  which  nothing  but  a  deep  interest  in  his  subject 
can  inspire. 

To  parochial  visits,  it  Vv'ill  be  proper  to  add  an  efficient 
system  for  the  instruction  of  children  and  young  people  in 
the  doctrines  and  duties  of  religion. 

It  would  seem  proper,  where  the  season  will  permit,  that 
the  children  of  the  cong 'egation  (who  ought  all  of  them,  as 
far  as  possible,  to  attend  public  worship)  be  catechised  by  a 
committee  of  the  church,  in  the  interval  of  public  worship  ; 
and  that  stated  catechetical  examinations  of  all  the  children 
of  the  congregation,  be  attended  by  the  pastor  and  a  com- 
mittee of  the  church  at  least  semiannually,  and  if  practicable, 
quarterly.* 

It  is  also  unspeakably  important,  that  a  system  of  religious 
instruction  adapted  to  the  age  and  altered  feelings  of  young 
people  be  provided,  to  succeed  the  shorter  catechism.  In 
most  cases,  the  whole  system  of  religious  instruction  by  the 
church  and  by  parents  ceases  with  the  period  of  childhood. 

A  species  of  false  shame  renders  young  people  reluctant  to 
repeat  the  catechism,  it  being  regarded  as  a  badge  of  child- 
hood ;  and  no  alternative  being  provided,  they  stay  at  home, 
forget  what  they  have  learned,  and  efface  by  the  dissipating 
influence  of  levity,  the  serious  impressions  of  early  life.  For 
a  long  period,  they  escape  from  pastoral  influence  ;  some 
become  irreligious  and  dissolute,  and  never  return  ;  and  none 
return,  until  the  Spirit  of  God  revives  the  tender  feelings  of 
childhood,  and  brings  into  the  fold  his  wandering  lambs. 

*  Since  this  was  written,  the  system  of  sabbath  schools  has  more  than  realised  all 
lliat  at  the  lime  had  been  asked  or  thought. 


122 

A  system  of  instruction  is  needed,  dierefore,  suited  to  the 
nge  and  altered  circumstances  of  youth,  which  shall  prevent 
their  breaking  the  bands  of  Christ,  and  keep  them  unceas- 
ingly, within  the  reach  of  exhortation  and  pastoral  influence. 
The  period  when  their  education  has  ordinarily  ceased,  is 
precisely  the  period  when  it  is  most  needed,  when  its  influ- 
ence for  their  conversion  would  be  most  hopeful,  and  their 
emancipation  from  its  restraint  the  most  perilous.* 

We  have  only  to  add  to  the  list  of  means  for  the  restora- 
tion of  decayed  churches  and  congregations,  earnest  prayer 
among  the  churches,  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  these  desolations,  and  the  revival  of  religion.  It  is  by 
revivals  only,  that  the  waste  places  in  this  State  can  be  effec- 
tually built  up  ;  and  all  the  preced''ng  means  are  to  be  era- 
ployed  with  a  direct  reference  to  a  revival  of  religion.  But 
no  means  will  avail  without  the  special  power  of  God  to 
render  them  effectual.  The  Lord  God  Almighty  must  build 
the  old  wastes  among  us  by  a  higR  hand,  and  an  outstretched 
arm ;  but  for  all  this,  will  he  be  inquired  of  by  the  churches 
to  do  it  for  them.  And  where  the  preceding  course  of  exer- 
tion is  adopted,  and  followed  by  the  united  supphcations  of 
the  churches  for  the  blessing  of  God,  with  exultation  we  may 
announce,  "  The  time  to  favor  Zion  has  come,  for  thy  ser- 
vants take  pleasure  in  her  stones  and  favor  the  dust  thereof." 

III.  The  motives  to  immediate  exertion  for  the  purpose  of 
building  the  old  wastes,  now  claim  our  attention. 

1.  It  is  the  duty  of  churches'to  help  decayed  sister  church- 
es to  rise. 

Particular  churches  are  not  organized  for  their  own  edifi- 
cation exclusively,  but  for  mutual  assistance  and  co-operation 
in  building   up   the  Redeemer's  kingdom.     The  Gospel  re- 

*  This  continued  attention  of  young  people  to  reliffious  instruction,  and  this  saluta- 
ry access  of  their  pastor  to  them,  has  been  successfully  accomplished,  in  some  instan- 
ces by  youthful  libraries  and  moral  schools  ;  sometimes  by  stated  lectures  for  the 
exposition  oftiie  catechism  ;  and  recently,  perhaps  in  the  highest  degree,  by  means  of 
tiie  Biblical  Catechism  of  Mr.  Wilbur,  and  the  associations  of  young^people  which  it 
has  occasioned,  lor  the  purpose  of  gaining  an  aciiuaintauce  with  the  Bible. 


123 

cognises  no  indopendent  churches.  All  are  the  subjects  of 
one  kingdom,  to  whose  prosperity  they  are  mutually  devoted. 
All  are  citizens  of  one  city,  assailed  by  a  common  enemy, 
and  associated  for  the  common  defence.  All  are  members 
of  the  same  family,  bound  together  by  a  common  interest  and 
by  common  ties  of  blood.  All  are  members  of  one  body, 
united  in  a  common  head,  from  which  all  the  body  knit  to- 
gether by  joints  and  bands,  and  having  nourishment  ministered, 
increaseth  with  the  increase  of  God.  There  is  a  fellowship 
of  churches,  which  Jesus  Christ  has  constituted,  and  relative 
duties  which  he  has  enjoined.  These  duties  are,  sympathy 
in  joy  and  sorrow,  counsel,  admonition,  and  pecuniary  aid, 
as  circumstances  may  require.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  discre- 
tion, then,  whether  the  churches  of  Connecticut  shall  help 
feeble  sister  churches.  They  are  bound  to  do  it.  In  be- 
coming churches,  they  have  assumed  a  relation  to  each  other, 
the  duties  of  which  are  as  plain  and  as  indispensable,  as  the 
duties  of  husband  and  wife,  or  parent  and  child.  According 
to  our  abihty,  we  that  are  strong  are  bound  to  help  the  feeble. 
Is  it  our  duty  to  minister  to  the  hungry  the  bread  that  per- 
isheth ;  and  can  we  be  at  liberty  to  withhold  the  bread  of 
life .''  Are  we  bound  to  do  good  unto  all  men  as  we  have 
opportunity  ;  and  may  we  yet  overlook  .the  'household  of 
faith  f  Are  the  members  of  the  same  church  bound  to  look, 
not  every  man  on  his  own  things,  but  every  man,  also,  on  the 
things  of  others ;  and  may  churches  contract  themselves 
within  their  own  selfish  circumference,  regarding  with  a  cold 
heart  and  an  unhelping  hand,  the  necessities  of  other  church- 
es .''  If  there  be  no  love  to  God  in  the  individual  professor, 
who  hath  this  world's  goods,  and  shutteth  up  his  bowels  of 
compassion  against  a  needy  brother,  can  churches  practice 
towards  churches  the  same  hardhearted  parsimony,  and  be 
guiltless  ;  or  must  we  draw  the  alarming  inference,  that  the 
love  of  God  dwelleth  not  in  churches,  if  they  disregard  the 
afflictions  of  destitute  churches  and  withhold  the  necessary 
aid  ?     Is  it  our  duty  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  destitute  in  the 


124 

new  settlSments  in  other  States,  and  to  the  heathen  in  other 
lands  ;  and  can  we  be  at  liberty  to  witness,  as  idle  spectators, 
the  extinction  of  sister  churches,  and  the  return  of  heathenism 
at  home  ? 

The  primitive  churches  understood  the  relative  duties  of 
churches  as  we  have  explained  them.  The  whole  primitive 
church  was  one  great  association  for  charitable  purposes, 
and  exerted  for  centuries,  and  in  the  midst  of  persecution,  a 
boundless  enterprise  to  propagate  the  Gospel.  They  gave, 
not  to  support  preachers  only,  but  to  support  preachers  and 
hearers  also,  whom  persecution  had  made  desolate.  The 
same  sympathy  and  efficacious  charity  distinguished  the 
churches  of  the  reformation  !  And  when  our  fathers  came 
to  this  land,  they,  being  many  members,  were  yet  one  body. 
A  strong  sympathy  made  them  partakers  of  each  other's  joys 
and  sorrows.  "  Then  might  be  seen  magistrates  and  minis- 
ters together,  in  way  of  advice — Ministers  and  ministers 
cleaving  together  in  the  way  of  communion — Churches  and 
churches  together  in  way  of  consultation  by  greater  and  less 
synods — ]Magistrates  and  ministers  and  their  people  together, 
uniting  hands  and  hearts  in  the  common  cause,  breathing  a 
public  spirit,  and  conspiring  with  holy  zeal  and  vigor  to  ad- 
vance the  kingdom  of  Christ.  O  the  uniting  glory  then 
manifest !  Grace,  ruling  and  ordering  both  rulers  and  people 
under  the  glorious  banners  of  true  gospel  holy  love.  Then 
were  colonies  united,  and  courts  united,  magistrates  united, 
and  ministers  united,  churches  united,  and  plantations 
united."* 

The  consociation  of  the  churclies  of  this  State  in  the  year 
1708,  is  an  express  recognition  of  the  relation  which  church- 
es bear  to  each  other  according  to  the  Gospel,  and  a  volun- 
tary, imphed  engagement  to  fulfil  towards  each  other  all 
righteousness.  Nor  have  the  feeling  or  the  duties  of  this 
relation  utterly  ceased,  but  they  are  feeble  and  limited  in 
their  practical  influence.     Sister  churches  have  been  overrun 

*  Church's  Fast  Sermon,  page  14. 


125 

with  error — divided,  broken  down,  and  even  annihilated  ; 
and  nothing  but  good  advice  and  good  wishes  has  been  inter- 
posed. Instead  of  a  general  lamentation  that  a  light  in  Is- 
rael should  be  put  out,  it  is  not  known  to  many  churches, 
that  such  calamities  have  come  upon  us.  But  they  have 
come. — There  are  grievous  desolations  in  this  State  :  societies 
might  be  named,  where  the  church  is  extinct,  and  the  house 
of  God  in  ruins — the  blasts  of  winter  rave  through  it — the 
flocks  of  summer  find  a  shelter  in  it — the  sabbath  is  a  holi- 
day— the  authority  of  revelation  has  ceased  with  many,  and, 
by  others,  is  employed  to  sanction  doctrines  not  less  destruc- 
tive than  atheism.-  Preachers  are  patronised,  whose  object 
is  to  keep  the  audience  laughing,  by  ridiculing  the  ministers 
and  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  A  revival  of  religion  would 
be  regarded  whh  as  virulent  enmity,  as  Jews  or  Pagans  re- 
garded Christianity.  There  are  districts  as  far  from  heaven, 
and,  (without  help,)  as  hopeless  of  heaven,  as  the  Pagans  of 
Hindostan  or  China.  Will  the  churches  sleep  over  such 
ruins  ?  Can  nothing  be  done  to  repair  these  desolations  of 
many  generations  ? 

2.  Unless  these  desolations  are  built,  they  will  become 
more  desolate. 

The  heart  of  man  is  desperately  wicked  ;  and,  freed  from 
the  restraints  of  religious  instruction,  will  go  on  indefinitely 
from  bad  to  worse.  Where  the  restraints  of  religion  cease 
to  operate,  the  restraint  of  law  will  also  be  speedily  unknown, 
for  the  plain  reason,  that,  in  such  communities,  there  will  be 
none  to  execute  the  laws.  The  result  will  be  intejpperance, 
profane  swearing,  gambling,  idleness,  poverty,  hatred,  vari- 
ance, strife,  disease  and  wo. 

Were  these  temporal  calamities  the  chief  miseries  of  such 
desolations,  their  claim  upon  our  christian  sympathy  would 
not  be  small.  But  these  are  only  the  beginnings  of  sorro\v. 
The  bondage  of  corruption,  commencing  here,  will  extend 
through  eternity.  The  career  of  iniquity,  here  begun,  will 
hold  on  its  unobstructed  course  and  never  end.  There  is  no 
17 


126 

bottom  to  the  pit  in  which  these  wastes  have  begun  to  sink ; 
no  limit  to  the  woes  which  are  before  them,  and  little  hope 
that  they  will  ever  escape.  The  aged  die  with  the  measure 
of  their  iniquity  full,  and  children  are  born  to  fill  up  the 
measure  of  their  fathers,  until  wrath  to  the  uttermost,  come 
upon  them.  No  revivals  approach  to  burst  the  bands  of 
wickedness,  and  proclaim  Uberty  to  the  captive ;  no  day  of 
hope  dawns,  no  ray  of  light  breaks  in.  There  is  no  rain, 
neither  any  dew  upon  them  from  heaven,  and  no  breath  of 
the  Lord  visits  the  bones,  which  are  dry,  very  dry.  Breth- 
ren, is  there  no  help  ?  Among  all  the  churches  in  this  State 
dwelling  at  ease,  is  there  no  eye  to  pity,  no  arm  to  save  f 

3.  If  these  waste  places  are  not  built,  they  will  exert  a 
])o\verful  influence  to  create  other  wastes,  and  extend  the 
scene  of  desolation. 

The  inhabitants  of  neighboring  towns  exert  no  inconsidera- 
ble influence  upon  each  other.  The  good  encourage  the 
good,  and  the  bad  countenance  and  strengthen  the  bad.  By 
means  of  intercourse,  tli^ir  opinions,  views,  and  feelings  are 
interchanged  ;  the  moral  atmosphere  of  each  is  breathed  by 
the  other,  to  an  extent,  which  will  sensibly  afl^ect  the  moral 
system  of  both.  Beside,  each  waste,  like  Babel,  will  yearly 
send  out  its  host  of  emigrants,  of  many  tongues ; — strangers 
to  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  furious  in  their  opposition  to  our 
civil  and  religious  order,  and  prepared  to  exert,  always  a 
pernicious,  and  sometimes,  as  circumstances  favor,  a  fatal 
influence  upon  the  town  or  society  in  which  they  reside. 

From  these  wastes  also  sally  forth  the  infidel,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour  ; — the  universalist,  to  quiet  profligates 
in  sin,  and  multiply  their  number  j — the  political  empiric,  to 
augment  his  party  ; — and  the  sectarian  of  every  name,  to 
proselyte ;  until  a  broad  circumference  around  shall  become 
as  divided,  and  weak,  and  dissolute,  as  Babel  itself.  Evil 
communications  corrupt  good  manners.  Their  word  eateth 
as  doth  a  canker.  A  conflagration  on  the  borders  of  a  city 
is  not  more  to  be  dreaded,  than  a  society  bereft  of  the  Gos- 


127 

pel,  emancipated  from  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  self-destroyed, 
is  to  be  feared  by  neighbouring  societies.  Facts,  lamentable 
facts,  may  be  found  in  this  State,  to  justify  these  appre- 
hensions. There  are  at  this  moment,  waste  places,  which 
exert  precisely  the  kind  of  influence  which  we  have  ascribed 
to  them. 

4.  If  the  wastes  among  us  are  not  built,  they  will  under- 
mine, ultimately,  the  civil  and  religious  order  of  the  State. 

Our  past  unity  and  strength,  in  a  civil  point  of  view,  has 
been  owing  to  the  very  extended  and  happy  coincidence  of 
religious  views  and  feelings  in  this  Sf^te.  Destroy  this  coin- 
cidence, and  you  disseminate  the  causes  of  jealousy  and 
alienation,  and  multiply  the  difficulties  of  legislation.  It  was 
the  conflict  of  religious  competition  that  brought  Charles  to 
the  block,  and  broke  down  for  a  time,  the  strong  government 
of  England.  And  let  the  wastes  in  this  State  multiply,  till 
one  third  of  the  freemen  shall  care  for  no  religion,  a  third 
attach  themselves  to  various  seceding  denominations,  and  a 
remnant  only,  walk  in  the  old  way ;  and\  .^le  unity  of  our 
councils  and  the  vigor  of  our  government  would  be  gone. 
The  business  of  legislation  would  become  a  scene  of  intrigue 
and  competition,  of  religious  and  political  ambition,  of  tem- 
porising compromise,  and  bargain  and  sale.  Each  party 
would  soon  have  its  ambitious  leaders,  who  would  kindle  the 
fire  to  warm  themselves  by,  and  cry  persecution  to  seat 
themselves  in  high  places.  Each  party  would  be  kept  organ- 
ised by  demagogues  for  political  use,  and  the  fire  of  the  State 
would  go  up  to  heaven  as  the  smoke  of  a  great  furnace,  and 
all  our  blessings  would  perish  in  the  flames.  But  to  such  a 
state  of  things  the  multiplication  of  waste  places  will  inevitably 
bring  us.  They  are  not  warts  merely,  to  mar  the  beauty  of 
the  face  ;  but  cancers  corroding  the  heart's  blood,  and  fasten- 
ing their  fibres  upon  the  vitals.  The  religious  and  civil  order 
of  this  State  commenced  their  existence  together,  and  to- 
gether they  will  live  or  expire.  One  was  made  for  the  other, 
or  rather  one  was  made  hy  the  other.     Without  the  religious 


128 

order,  to  form  the  conscience  and  establish  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  our  civil  institutions  which  have  stood  almost  two 
centuries,  could  not  have  endured  a  year.  Let  the  ancient 
churches  in  this  State,  one  after  another,  be  broken  down, 
and  the  doctrines  which  have  purified  and  cheered  them 
cease  to  be  heard,  and  soon,  Connecticut  will  be  Connecticut 
no  more.  Like  Esau  we  may  seek  carefully,  with  tears, 
what  our  folly  has  abandoned,  but  no  repentance  will  re- 
trieve our  ruin.  Our  laws,  habits,  and  manners  are  the  re- 
sult of  our  religion  ;  all  other  causes  combined  have  not  had 
so  much  influence ;  remove  this  master  spring,  and  every 
movement  will  stop — bid  the  soul  depart,  and  that  moment 
will  the  body  die.  But  who  would  risk  the  tremendous  ex- 
periment ?  Have  our  religious  institutions  been  so  barren  of 
good  to  us,  that  we  may  lightly  trifle  them  away  in  search 
of  better  ;  or  is  experimenting  in  religion  so  harmless  a  thing, 
that  if  the  right  form  does  not  come  out  of  the  fire,  we  can 
restore  the  molten  mass  to  its  former  uses  ?  No — let  the 
prevailing  religious  order  of  the  State  be  once  broken  down, 
and  it  is  gone  forever.  What  injustice  would  this  be  to  the 
dead  !  It  is  not  two  hundred  years  since  the  forest  waved 
where  our  towns  now  stand,  and  the  war  whoop  was  echoed 
from  the  heavens.  To  these  abodes  of  desolation  our  fathers 
came  to  plant  these  churches  which  now  survive  them,  and  to 
transmit  those  doctrines  which  now  enlighten  them,  and  to 
estabhsh,  unfettered  by  European  usage,  those  institutions 
which  might  bless  their  posterity  till  the  second  coming  of 
our  Lord  :  and  God  was  with  them. — They  accomplished 
their  work  and  went  to  heaven,  leaving  to  their  posterity  only 
the  labor  of  preserving  what  they  had  bequeathed.  And 
now  shall  we  listen  to  the  syren  tongue  of  charity,  inviting  us 
to  substitute  another  order,  and  another  Gospel  f  And  shall 
the  cry  of  bigotry  prevent  our  contending  earnestly  for  their 
preservation  ?  Shall  the  miner  steadily  pursue  his  work, 
and  foundations  fail,  and  desolations  multiply,  and  no  alarm 
be  sounded,  and  no  counteracting   efforts   be   made  ?     How 


129 

could  we  answer  it  to  God  should  we  do  so  ?  How  could 
we  look  our  fathers  in  the  face,  should  we  meet  them  in 
heaven  ? 

5.  The  time  past  is  more  than  sufficient  to  have  neglected 
our  duty  and  slept  over  our  dangers.  For  twenty  years,  a 
combination  of  inauspicious  influence  has  been  exerted  with- 
out cessation  upon  the  religious  order  of  the  State,  with  very 
little  systematic  influence  in  the  way  of  self-preservation. 
We  have  trusted  to  our  laws,  to  our  habits,  to  the  good  sense 
of  the  people ;  and,  in  common  times,  these  might  have  suf- 
ficed. But  on  common  times  we  have  not  fallen  ;  and,  to 
meet  the  change,  common  exertions  are  not  sufficient.  Other 
rehgious  denominations  have  not  been  inattentive  to  the  in- 
crease and  preservation  of  their  churches,  while  we,  unad- 
monished  by  circumstances,  have  kept  on  in  the  beaten  track. 
Indeed,  we  have  for  so  long  a  time  borne  patiently  every  as- 
sault, that  to  assail  us  is  deemed  a  right,  and  resistance  on 
our  part,  even  in  self-defence,  is  deemed  persecution.  With 
the  loving  speech  of  charity,  and  toleration,  the  onset  is  made 
upon  us ;  but  if  we  open  our  lips,  if  we  lift  a  finger,  if  we  do 
not  retreat,  and  abandon  to  strangers  the  heritage  of  our  fa- 
thers, if  we  do  not  even  help  them  to  destroy  us,  the  heavens 
are  rent  with  the  cry  of  bigotry  and  persecution.  Is  it  not 
time,  then,  to  awake  to  our  duty  ;  that,  by  a  vigorous  enter- 
prise, we  may  retrieve  what  is  past,  and  stop  the  progress  of 
decline  ?  The  causes  which  have  laid  us  waste,  are,  many  of 
them,  still  in  operation,  and  without  a  special  counteracting 
influence,  will  not  be  confined  to  their  present  limits.  Other 
churches  will  become  feeble,  and  the  feeble  desolate.  Am- 
bition, covetousness,  irreligion,  revenge,  and  false  zeal,  by 
their  continual  droppings,  will  wear  away,  by  piecemeal,  our 
firm  foundations.  The  children  of  alienated  families  are 
muhiplying,  and  their  education,  or  want  of  it,  are  operating 
ahke  to  change  the  character  of  the  State.  Their  opinions, 
their  property,  their  example,  and  their  suflxage,  will  have  its 
influence  in  every  town   and  upon   all   our   public   concerns. 


130 

changing   silently,  and  to  a  fatal  extent,  tiie  civil,  the  moral, 
and  the  religious  character  of  the  State. 

A  few  words  in  the  application  of  this  discourse  may  pro- 
perly be  addressed  to  the  pastor  elect. 

My  Brother, 

From  this  discourse  you  perceive  your  duty  to  this 
people,  and  to  the  church  of  God.  To  you,  though  an 
earthen  vessel,  is  committed  that  treasure  which  is  able  to 
enrich  them  forever.  Upon  your  fidelity,  under  God,  will 
depend  their  eternal  destiny.  To  become  faithful,  you  must 
study.  Neither  talents  nor  piety  will  supersede  the  necessity 
of  application.  The  mind  must  be  disciplined,  or  it  will  lose 
its  vigor  ;  it  must  receive,  or  it  cannot  communicate.  Ser- 
mons must  be  studied,  or  they  will  be  common-place,  point- 
less compositions.  Unstudied,  written  sermons,  are  as  much 
more  intolerable  than  extemporary  effusions,  as  methodical 
dullness  is  more  irksome  than  immethodical  zeal — for  as  to 
matter,  both  will  hang  in  even  scales.  But  study  is  not  all ; 
you  must  act.  You  must  take  care  of  the  wastes  in  your  own 
limits.  You  must  be  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season,  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  your  people  ;  calling  together,  from 
week  to  week,  the  different  districts  of  your  charge,  to  speak 
to  them  the  words  of  eternal  hfe.  To  you  is  committed  the 
care  of  the  lambs  of  this  flock.  Your  discretion,  and  enter- 
prise, and  influence,  will  be  the  spring  of  that  whole  system 
of  rehgious  education,  which,  under  God,  must  determine 
their  character  for  time  and  eternity.  You  are  to  catechise 
them,  and  to  stimulate  the  church  and  every  family  in  your 
charge,  to  the  work  of  religious  education.  It  becomes  you 
to  acquire,  as  you  easily  may  do,  an  all-pervading  influence 
among  your  people,  under  which,  they  shall  assume  a  charac- 
ter and  stabiHty,  such  as  they  ought  to  possess.  That  pru- 
dence in  a  minister,  which  would  avoid  difficulties  by  doing 
nothing,  is  pernicious.  It  is  your  duty  to  be  active,  and  pru- 
dent too.     It  is  not  enough  that  your  charge  grows  no  worse ; 


131 

you  must  be  sadly  deficient,  if,  without  special  hindrances, 
they  do  not  grow  better.  But  to  gain  this  all-pervading  in- 
fluence, you  must  love  your  people,  and  secure  to  yourself  a 
reciprocal  attachment ;  and  to  do  this  you  must  be  faithful  to 
them.  You  must  know  your  flock,  attend  religious  meetings, 
pray  by  the  bed  of  the  sick,  visit  mourners,  and  go  from 
house  to  house,  to  teach  them  and  to  do  them  good. 

Such,  brother,  is  the  work  in  which  yoii  are  about  to 
engage.  Do  you  shrink  from  such  toil — such  exclusive  con* 
secration  to  your  work  ?  Have  you  much  collateral  business 
of  your  own  ;  a  literary  field  to  cultivate'  for  fame  ;  a  vine- 
yard of  your  own  to  till,  and  flocks  to  tend,  for  fihhy  lucre's 
sake  ?  Now  then  is  the  time  to  stop,  for  it  is  better  not  to 
vow,  than  to  vow  and  not  perform.  If  private  christians  can- 
not serve  God  and  mammon,  much  less  can  faithful  ministers 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  But  if  your  heart's  desire  is,  to  give 
yourself  wholly  to  the  Lord,  and  to  know  nothing  among  your 
people,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified ;  and  if  still,  at 
times,  the  cankering  thought  arise,  what  shall  I  eat,  and  what 
shall  I  drink,  and  wherewithal  shall  I  be  clothed,  then,  bro- 
ther, have  faith  in  God.  Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air,  for 
they  sow  not,  neither  do  they  reap,  nor  gather  into  barns,  yet 
your  heavenly  Father  feedeth  them.  Trust  then  in  the  Lord, 
and  do  good,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed.  For  it  is  not 
merely  a  duty  enjoined  upon  others,  that  they  wdiich  preach 
the  Gospel  shall  hve  of  the  Gospel,  but  a  promise  also  given 
to  his  ministers,  w4iich  Jesus  will  not  fail  to  verify.  Be  faith- 
ful, then,  to  God  and  to  your  people.  Give  them  your  time, 
your  talents,  and  your  prayers.  Let  them  know,  from  expe- 
rience, the  blessings  of  a  faithful  ministry ;  and  God,  I  doubt 
not,  will  both  inchne  and  enable  them  to  take  care  of  you. 

You  perceive,  also,  from  what  has  been  said,  your  duty  to 
the  church  of  God  generally.  No  minister  liveth  for  his  own 
charge  exclusively.  An  extended  field  hes  open  before  him, 
to  be  cultivated  by  the  joint  labors  of  pastors  and  churches. 
To  you  with  others,  will  appertain   a  friendly  care  of  vacant 


132 

chiu'ches  and  waste  places.  To  you  it  belongs  as  a  guardian 
of  the  church,  to  attend  statedly  the  several  ecclesiastical 
meetings  of  the  church,  that  you  may  know  her  interest,  and 
afford  your  counsel  and  co-operation  for  the  general  good. 
Indolence,  or  indifference,  or  worldly  business,  which  pro- 
duces a  neglect  of  ecclesiastical  meetings,  and  of  enterprise 
in  the  business  of  the  church,  will  limit  your  influence  to  do 
good,  diminish  your  zeal  to  do  good,  and  subtract  essentially 
from  your  stimulus  to  pastoral  fidelity  among  your  own  people. 
Nor  is  your  eye,  or  heart,  or  hand  to  be  confined  to  the  nar- 
row limits  of  an  'association.  The  State,  the  Nation,  the 
World  demand  your  prayers,  and  charities,  and  enterprise. 
Do  you  sink  under  such  a  weight  ?  It  is  enough  to  crush 
an  angel ;  but  through  Christ,  strengthening  you,  you  can 
do  it  all. 

The  church  and  congregation  in  this  place,  will  now  permit 
a  brief  application  of  what  has  been  said  to  themselves. 

We  have  heard,  friends  and  brethren,  with  great  satisfac- 
tion, of  your  high  estimation  of  Gospel  privileges,  and  of  your 
very  laudable  exertions  to  avert  from  yourselves  and  your 
children  the  multiplied  evils  of  becoming  a  waste  place. 
Upon  principles  of  policy  you  have  acted  wisely.  Upon 
principles  of  the  strictest  economy  you  have  acted  a  saving 
part ; — for,  had  you  fallen,  the  tax  of  your  vices  had  been 
more  than  four  times  the  expense  of  supporting  the  Gospel. 
The  tax  of  intemperance,  of  litigation,  and  of  sickness  induced 
by  the  excesses  which  prevail  where  the  Gospel  does  not 
restrain  men,  would  grind  you  to  the  dust.  "  There  is,  that 
withholdedi  more  than  is  meet,  and  it  tendeth  to  poverty  ;" 
and  in  no  case  is  this  proverb  more  strikingly  verified,  than 
in  those  parsimonious  calculations  by  which  societies  curtail 
10  themselves  the  privileges  of  the  Gospel. 

You  perceive,  brethren,  from  the  sketch  given  in  this  dis- 
course, what  your  pastor  is  called  to  do  ;  and  you  cannot  but 
perceive  that  your  best  good  demands  that  all  of  it  should  be 


133 

done,  and  that  to  do  the  whole,  will  occupy  every  moment  of 
his  time.  If,  in  reality,  you  were  unable  to  support  him,  so 
that  he  might  devote  to  your  service  his  whole  time  ;  in  that 
case,  could  no  help  be  derived  from  other  churches,  after  the 
example  of  Paul,  it  might  be  his  duty,  by  his  own  hands,  to 
minister  to  his  necessities.  But  if  the  same  wisdom  guide 
you  which  hitherto  has  seemed  to  prevail,  you  will  see  to  it 
that  the  necessity  be  real  and  not  imaginary  ;  the  result  of  a 
natural  and  not  a  moral  inability  ;  created  by  the  providence 
of  God  and  not  by  that  covetousness  which  is  idolatry.  As 
much  as  in  you  lieth,  you  will  see  to  it,  that  no  avocations  of 
necessity  divert  him  from  those  labors,  which  your  best  good 
demands. 

It  is  a  sad  mistake,  too  often  countenanced  by  ministers 
themselves,  that  small  congregations  are  unable  to  support 
the  Gospel ;  when  the  fact  is,  that  no  congregation  is  able  to 
do  without  the  Gospel :  for  the  tax  of  desolation  is  four  times 
as  expensive  as  the  tax  which  is  requisite  to  support  the  in- 
stitutions of  religion.  This  is  no  fiction.  Go  to  those  socie- 
ties, which  have  judged  themselves  unable  to  support  the 
Gospel ; — go  to  parents,  and  demand  the  items  squandered 
by  their  prodigal  children,  beside  breaking  their  hearts  by 
their  undutiful  conduct.  Go  to  the  tavern  on  the  sabbath- 
day  and  on  week  days  ; — attend  the  arbitrations,  the  courts, 
the  trainings,  the  horce-racings,  and  the  midnight  revels  ; — 
witness  the  decayed  houses,  fences,  and  tillage,  the  falling 
school-house,  and  tattered  children  of  barbarous  manners ; 
and  then  return  to  your  own  little  paradise,  and  decide 
whether  you  will  exile  the  Gospel  as  too  expensive  to  be  sup- 
ported. If  you  are  too  poor  to  support  the  Gospel,  you  are, 
demonstrably,  too  poor  to  do  «vithout  it — if  the  one  would 
severely  press  you,  the  other  would  grind  you  to  powder. 
A  few  families  may  thrive  in  waste  places,  but  it  will  be  upon 
the  vices  of  the  rest ;  the  greater  portion  will  be  poor,  and 
ignorant,  and  vicious.  Do  you  demand  how  a  poor  people 
can  support  the  Gospel  ?  Let  them  first  appreciate  the  priv- 
18 


134 

ilege  according  to  its  importance,  and  then  let  the  father,  and 
the  mother,  and  the  son,  and  the  daughter,  and  the  servant, 
lay,  weekly,  a  light  tax  upon  their  pride,  and  another  upon 
appetite  needlessly  gratified  ;  and  add  to  these  savings  another 
item  acquired  by  some  special  effort  for  the  purpose ;  and 
another,  as  God  shall  have  prospered  their  lawful  industry, 
and  the  result  of  the  whole  would  be  an  abundant  supply. 
Any  ten  families  of  ordinary  property,  could  better  afford  to 
support  the  Gospel,  than  to  do  without  it.  When  societies 
calculate  what  they  can  afford  to  give  for  the  support  of  the 
Gospel,  they  go  upon  the  supposition,  that  what  they  do  give 
is  so  much  subtracted,  annually,  from  the  whole  amount  of 
their  incon-ie  ;  a  supposition,  which  is  utterly  erroneous  ;  for, 
in  fact,  as  it  respects  the  diminution  of  property,  they  give 
nothing.  The  Gospel  is  not  a  debtor  to  those  who  support 
it,  but  they  are  debtors  to  the  Gospel.  It  does  not  subtract 
from  the  property  of  a  society,  but  adds  to  it  more  than  it 
takes  away.  It  is  God  himself  who  has  said,  "  honor  the 
Lord  with  thy  substance,  and  with  the  first  fruits  of  all  thy 
increase,  so  shall  thy  barns  be  filled  with  plenty,  and  thy 
presses  shall  burst  out  with  new  wine."  This  duty  of  sup- 
porting the  worship  of  God  has  not  ceased  with  the  Jewish 
dispensation,  nor  has  this  promise  been  repealed  ;  and  the 
whole  providence  of  God  to  this  day,  has  been  a  practical 
confirmation  of  his  faithfulness  in  its  fulfilment.  The  Jews 
often  distrusted  this  assurance,  and  robbed  God  to  save  their 
property ;  but  they  were  always  reduced  by  the  experiment. 
They  sowed  much  and  brought  in  little,  and  when  it  was 
gathered,  God  did  blow  upon  it.  The  dew  of  heaven  was 
stayed,  and  the  earth  did  not  yield  her  increase.  Ye  are 
cursed  with  a  curse,  for  ye  have  robbed  me,  even  this  whole 
nation.  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse,  that  there 
may  be  m6at  in  mine  house,  and  prove  me  now  herewith, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  windows  of 
heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be 
room  enough  to  receive  it.     And  I  will  rebuke   the  devourer 


135 

for  your  sakes,  and  he  shall  not  destroy  the  fruits  of  your 
ground  ;  neither  shall  your  vine  cast  her  fruit  before  the 
time  in  the  field,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  all  nations 
shall  call  you  blessed,  for  ye  shall  be  a  delightsome  land, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.* 

The  same  rule  of  administration  is  regarded  still ;  the 
curse  of  heaven  still  fastens  upon  communities  that  despise 
the  Gospel,  and  neglect  its  support.  Their  decline  in  out- 
ward prosperity,  is  notorious  ;  and  their  restoration  is  no  less 
manifest,  when,  convinced  of  their  folly,  they  make  a  compe- 
tent provision  for  the  public  worship  of  God.  Nor  is  the  fact 
mysterious,  or  miraculous ;  since  the  life  of  man,  his  health, 
his  wisdom  to  plan  and  strength  to  execute,  the  life  and  vigor 
of  his  flocks  and  herds,  every  stalk  of  grain  and  every  blade 
of  grass  are  in  the  hand  of  God.  In  ten  thousand  ways  he 
can  add  to,  or  subtract  from  your  income.  A  fit  of  sickness, 
a  broken  bone,  a  profligate  child,  a  vexatious  lawsuit,  a  dearth 
or  a  flood,  a  murrain  among  your  cattle  or  a  blast  on  your 
field,  may  cut  off,  at  once,  all  your  sacriligious  savings  ; 
while  his  blessing  can,  in  as  many  v^^ays,  make  you  rich  and 
add  no  sorrow  with  it.  You  may  give  therefore,  with  an 
unsparing  hand,  as  exigencies  demand,  for  the  support  of  the 
Gospel,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you  again,  good  measure, 
pressed  down,  and  shaken  together,  and  running  over.  Your 
cruise  of  oil  shall  not  fail,  and  your  barrel  of  meal  shall  not 
v/aste. 

My  beloved  brethren  in  the  ministry, 
Permit  me  to  address  to  you  also,  a  word  of  exhortation 
on  this  interesting  occasion.  If  the  views  we  have  taken  in 
this  discourse  are  correct,  have  we  not  occasion  to  blush  and 
to  tremble  at  our  past  deficiencies  ?  But  what  shall  we  do  ? 
Weary  of  our  Master's  work,  or  disheartened  by  past  delin- 
quency, shall  we  stop,  and  in  despondency  resign  our  com- 
mission and  abandon  our  work  .''     Or  shall  we  this  day  renew 

*  Malaclii,  iii.  9,  10,  11,  12. 


136 

our  ordination  vows,  and  go  home  to  our  people,  resolving,  in 
the  strength  of  the  Redeemer,  to  do  better  for  the  time  to 
come  ?  Which  of  us  could  bear  to  leave  our  work  as  it  is, 
and  go  to  judgment  with  the  account  of  his  stewardship  ? 
How  many  superfluous  things  have  we  done,  wasting  our 
precious  time  ?  How  many  important  duties  have  we 
neglected,  putting  in  jeopardy  the  souls  of  our  people  ?  How 
often  might  we  have  spoken  to  edification,  when  we  have 
held  our  peace  ?  How  many  pastoral  visits  might  we  have 
made,  which  we  have  not  ?  How  many  district  lectures  might 
we  have  preached,  which  have  not  been  heard  ;  how  many 
precious  prayer  meetings  attended,  which,  through  our  negli- 
gence, have  had  no  existence  ;  and  how  feeble,  in  our  socie- 
ties, is  the  whole  amount  of  our  moral  influence,  compared 
with  what  it  might  have  been,  had  we  done  our  duty  with  all 
our  might  ?  What  shall  we  say,  brethren  ?  Shall  we  seek 
to  Ughten  the  tax  of  guilt  by  denying  the  extent  of  our  duty  f 
It  is  at  our  peril  that  we  do  it.  The  glory  of  God,  the  pros- 
perity of  the  RedeePxier's  kingdom,  the  ^velfare  of  souls,  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord,  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  our  own  solemn 
vows, — all  demand  at  our  hands,  more  than  has  been  suggested 
in  this  discourse.  Twice  have  we  given  ourselves  to  the 
Lord — once  when  he  delivered  us  from  the  horrid  pit,  and 
again  when  he  counted  us  faithful,  putting  us  into  the  min- 
istry. The  vows  of  God  are  upon  us,  and  we  cannot  go 
back.  We  must  do  our  duty ;  wo  be  to  us  if  we  do  not 
preach  the  Gospel,  and  fulfil  its  appropriate  duties.  Besides, 
we  live  in  a  peculiar  day.  Exertions  which  once  might 
suffice  to  avert  desolation,  are  not  sufficient  now.  The  law 
which  operated  once  to  prevent  the  dissolution  of  congrega- 
tions, can  be  evaded,  and  is  evaded  by  every  man,  whose 
impiety,  or  covetousness,  or  resentment,  prompts  him  to  do 
it.  Personal  attachment  to  the  minister  is  now  the  strongest 
bond  of  union  ;  and  to  hold  together  by  this  bond,  a  society 
of  fallen  men,  demands  no  ordinary  vigilance  and  fidelity. 
Our   predecessors  might   do   less  than  their  duty,   and   the 


137 

primary  impulse  unresisted,  would  cause  things  to  move  on 
in  the  right  way.  But  now,  the  resistance  is  increased,  and 
the  impelling  forces  diminished  ;  and  nothing  but  an  impulse 
carefully  and  constantly  applied,  will  keep  things  in  their 
proper  course. 

The  necessity  of  study  is  not  diminished,  but  the  necessity 
of  action  has  greatly  increased.  Action  is  now  the  order  of 
the  day ;  for,  beside  the  peculiar  exigencies  of  our  own 
people,  and  the  churches  in  this  State,  such  a  field  of  labor 
is  opening  before  us  as  the  world  never  saw.  Jesus  is  com- 
ing quickly  to  take  possession  of  the  earth,  and  is  now  putting 
in  requisition  the  hearts,  the  thoughts,  the  time,  and  strength, 
of  all  his  ministers  ;  and  which  of  us  will  not  rejoice  that  it  is 
so,  and  give  him  all  ? 


SERMON  V. 


THE  BIBLE  A  CODE  OF  LAWS. 


Psalm  xix.  7,  8,  9,  10. 

The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul :  the  testimony  of  the 
Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple :  the  statutes  of  the  Lord  are  right,  re- 
joicing the  heart :  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlightening  the 
eyes  :  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  clean,  enduring  forever :  the  judgments  of  the 
Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether.  More  to  be  desired  are  they  than 
gold,  yea,  than  much  fine  gold :  sweeter  also  than  honey,  and  the  honey 
comb. 

We  have,  in  this  Psalm,  a  concise  account  of  the  disco- 
very of  the  glory  of  God,  made  by  his  works  and  by  his  word. 
"  The  heavens  declare  his  glory,  and  the  firmament  sho\veth 
his  handy  work."  But  these  disclosures  of  the  heavens, 
"  whose  line  is  gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  and  their  words 
to  the  ends  of  the  world,"  though  they  create  obhgation,  and 
discover  guilt,  are  not  sufficient  to  restrain  the  depravity  of 
man,  nor  to  disclose  an  atonement  for  him,  nor  to  announce 
terms  of  pardon,  nor  to  sanctify  the  soul. 

But  the  Law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect.  Adapted  to  the 
exigencies  of  a  lost  world,  it  speaks  on  all  those  subjects  on 
which  no  speech  is  heard  from  the  heavens,  and  is  attended 
with  glorious  efficacy.  It  converts  the  soul ;  it  makes  wise 
the  simple ;  it  rejoices  the  heart ;  it  produces  a  fear  of  the 


139 

Lord,  which  endures  forever  ;  and  to  all  who  have  felt  its 
sanctifying  power,  it  is  more  precious  than  gold,  and  sweeter 
than  honey. 

The  text,  then,  teaches  us  to  regard  the  word  op 
God  as  containing  the  laws  of  a  moral  government, 
revealed  for  the  illustration  of  his  glory  in  the 
salvation  of  man. 

In  discoursing  upon  this  subject,  it  is  proposed 

I.  To  illustrate  the  nature  of  moral  government ;  and, 

II.  To  show  that  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  regarded  as  con- 
taining a  system  of  moral  Laws,  revealed  to  illustrate  the 
glory  of  God,  in  the  salvation  of  man. 

1.  A  moral  government  is  the  influence  of  law  upon  account- 
ahlc  creatures.  It  includes  a  law-giver,  accountable  subjects, 
and  laws  intelligibly  revealed,  and  administered  with  refe- 
rence to  reward  and  punishment.  To  accountability  in  the 
subjects  are  requisite, — understanding,  to  perceive  the  rule 
of  action ;  conscience,  to  feel  moral  obligation  ;  and  the 
faculty  of  choice  in  the  view  of  motives.  Understanding 
to  perceive  the  rule  of  action,  does  not  constitute  accountable 
agency  ;  choice  without  the  capacity  of  feeling  obligation, 
does  not  constitute  accountable  agency  ; — but  the  faculty  of 
understandi^^g,  and  conscience,  and  choice  united,  do  con- 
stitute an  accountable  agent.  The  laws  of  God  and  man 
recognise  these  properties  of  mind  as  the  foundation  of  ac- 
countability.— A  statue  is  not  accountable,  for  it  has  no 
feculty  of  perception  or  choice  ;  an  idiot  is  not,  for,  though 
he  may  have  the  faculty  of  choice,  he  has  no  competent 
understanding  to  perceive  a  moral  rule,  nor  conscience  to 
feel  moral  obligation  ;  and  a  lunatic  is  not,  because,  though 
he  may  have  choice  and  conscience,  he  has  not  the  unper- 
verted  exercise  of  his  understanding. 

The  faculties,  then,  of  understanding,  conscience,  and 
choice,  constitute  an  accountable  agent.     Their  existence  is 


140 

as  decisive  evidence  of  free  agency,  as  the  five  senses  are  of 
the  existence  of  the  body  ;  and  nothing  is  inconsistent  with 
free  agency,  or  annihilates  the  evidence  of  its  existence,  which 
does  not  destroy  one  or  more  of  these  facuhies  of  the  mind. 

Law,  as  the  medium  of  moral  government,  includes  pre- 
cepts and  sanctions  intelligibly  revealed.  The  precept  is 
directory  ;  it  discloses  what  is  to  done. — The  sanctions  are 
influential ;  they  present  the  motives  to  obedience  included 
in  the  comprehensive  terms  of  reward  and  punishment.  But, 
to  have  influence,  the  precepts  and  the  motives  must  be  pre- 
sented to  the  mind.  The  law  in  all  its  parts  must  be  intelli- 
gible, otherwise  it  is  not  a  law.  A  law  may  be  unknown, 
and  yet  be  obligatory,  when  the  ignorance  is  voluntary  ;  but 
never,  when  it  is  unavoidable.  The  influence  of  law  as  the 
medium  of  moral  government,  is  the  influence  of  motives 
upon  accountable  creatures  ;  and  the  effect  of  this  influence 
is  always  the  actual  exercise  of  free  agency  in  choice  or 
action.  The  influence  of  motives  cannot  destroy  free  agen- 
cy; for  it  is  the  influence  of  persuasion  only,  and  results 
only  in  choice,  which,  in  the  presence  of  understanding  and 
conscience,  is  free  agency.  If  there  were  no  objects  of 
preference  or  aversion  exhibited  to  the  mind,  there  could  no 
more  be  choice  or  free  agency,  than  there  could  be  vision 
without  external  objects  of  sight.  Direct  irresistible  impulse 
moving  the  mind  to  action,  would  not  be  moral  government ; 
and  if  motives,  in  the  view  of  which  the  mind  chooses  and 
acts,  were  incompatible  with  free  agency,  accountability  and 
moral  government  would  be  impossible. 

The  administration  of  a  moral  government  includes  whatj 
ever  may  be  necessary  to  give  efficacy  to  its  laws.  Its  chief 
influence  is  felt  in"  the  cognizance  it  takes  of  the  conduct  of 
subjects,  and  the  evidence  it  affords  of  certain  retribution 
according  to  their  deeds.  In  some  points^  there  is  a  coinci- 
dence between  natural  and  moral  government ;  and  in  others, 
a  difference.  They  agree  in  this  fact,  that  the  subjects  of 
each  are  influenced  to  act  as  they  would  not  without  govern- 


141 

ment.  To  suppose  complete  exemption  from  any  kind  or 
degree  of  influence  from  without,  to  be  indispensable  to  free 
agency,  is  at  war  with  common  sense,  and  daily  observation, 
and  every  man's  own  consciousness.  What  is  family  gov- 
ernment, w^hat  is  civil  government,  what  is  temptation, 
exhortation  or  persuasion  ;  and  what  are  the  influences  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  the  means,  and  the  effectual  means  of 
influencing  the  exercises  of  the  human  heart,  and  the  conduct 
of  human  life  ?  To  deny  the  possibility  of  control  by  motives 
without* destroying  free  agency,  annihilates  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  God,  and  is  atheism.  It  shuts  him  out  of  the  world 
and  out  of  the  universe,  as  moral  governor.  It  blots  out  his 
laws  as  nugatory,  emancipates  every  subject  from  his  moral 
influence,  and  leaves  him  not  an  inch  of  territory  on  earth  or 
in  heaven,  over  which  to  sway  the  sceptre  of  legislation.  He 
must  sit  upon  his  throne  as  an  idle  spectator  of  all  moral  ex- 
ercise and  action,  receiving  no  praise  for  what  he  has  done 
from  saint  or  angel.  "  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I 
am,"  must  have  been  a  falsehood  when  uttered  upon  earth  ; 
and  a  sentiment  not  to  be  repeated  in  heaven. 

Natural  and  moral  government  may  agree,  also,  as  to  the 
certainty  of  their  influence.  It  may  be  as  certain  that  an 
honest  man  will  not  steal,  as  if  he  was  loaded  with  chains 
and  could  not  move  a  finger  ;  and  it  may  be  as  certain  that 
an  intemperate  man  will  drink  to  excess  when  he  has  oppor- 
tunity, as  if  the  liquid  were  poured  down  his  throat  by  irre- 
sistible power.  But  they  differ  entirely  as  to  their  subjects, 
and  the  manner  of  producing  their  results.  Natural  govern- 
ment is  direct,  irresistible  impulse.  Moral  government  is 
persuasion  ;  and  the  result  of  it  is  voluntary  action  in  the  view 
of  motives. 

Free  agency  cannot  be  conceived  to  exist,   and  probably 

cannot  exist  in   any  other  manner  than  by  the  exhibition  of 

motives  to  voluntary  agents,  the  result  of  which  shall  be 

dioice  and  action.     The  precise  idea  of  moral  government, 

19 


142 

then,  is  the  influence  of  law  upon  the  affections  and  conduct 

of  intelligent  accountable  creatures. 

II.  I  am  to  show  that  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  regarded  as 
containing  the  laws  of  a  moral  government,  revealed  to  illus- 
trate the  glory  of  God,  in  the  salvation  of  man. 

The  glory  of  God  is  his  whole  character.  The  illustration 
of  his  glory,  is  the  exhibition  of  that  character  to  intelligent 
beings,  as  the  object  of  supreme  complacency  and  enjoyment. 
The  plan  of  redemption  is  the  particular  system  of  action 
which  the  Most  High  has  chosen  as  the  medium  of  illustra- 
tion ;  and  this  plan  includes  the  system  of  moral  laws  con- 
tained in  the  Bible.  That  the  Bible  is  to  be  regarded  as 
revealing  a  system  of  moral  laws,  is  evident  from  many  con- 
siderations. The  Most  High  has  there  expressly  revealed 
himself  as  a  lawgiver.  His  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness  ; 
his  justice,  mercy,  and  truth,  are  exhibited  not  as  abstract 
qualities,  but  as  attributes  illustrated  by  the  laws  and  adminis- 
tration of  a  moral  government.  Man,  the  subject  of  these  laws, 
possesses  indisputably,  all  the  properties  of  an  accountable 
agent,  understanding,  conscience,  and  the  faculty  of  choice ; 
and  in  the  Scriptures,  is  recognised  as  accountable.  Did 
the  Most  High  create  all  things  to  illustrate  his  glory  ?  It  is 
a  glory  which  can  be  displayed  only  in  the  administration  of 
a  moral  government.  How  can  justice  be  manifested  where 
there  are  no  laws,  and  no  accountable  subjects .''  How  can 
mercy  be  displayed  where  there  is  no  transgression  ;  or  truth 
be  illustrated  where  there  is  no  intelligent  mind  to  witness  the 
accordance  of  declaration  with  fact,  or  of  conduct  with 
promises  .'*  The  Most  High  is  expressly  denominated  king, 
lawgiver,  and  judge.  The  legislative,  judicial,  and  execu- 
tive power  are  in  the  same  hands  ;  and  the  Scriptures  are 
denominated  the  law  of  the  Lord,  his  statutes,  his  command- 
ments. The  contents  of  the  Bible  illustrate  Its  character  as 
a  revealed  system  of  precepts  and  motives.  There  is  tlie 
moral  law  in  ten  commandments,  and  its  summary  import 


143 

comprised  in  two  ;  and  there  is  tlie  Gospel,  composed,  no  less 
than  the  law,  of  precepts  enforced  by  sanctions.  As  a  rule  of 
life,  it  adopts  the  moral  law ;  but  as  a  system  of  salvation,  it 
prescribes  its  own  specific  duties  of  repentance  and  faith, 
enforced  by  its  own  most  glorious  and  fearful  sanctions. 
Whatever  instruction  is  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  historical 
or  biographical,  is  all  directory  as  a  precept,  or  influential  as 
a  motive  to  obedience.  All  the  institutions  of  the  Bible  have 
for  tlieir  object,  the  preservation  of  truth  in  the  mind,  or  the 
impression  of  it  upon  the  heart,  as  the  means  of  restoring 
men  from  sin  to  hohness.  The  day  of  judgment,  as  described 
by  our  Saviour,  consummates  the  evidence  that  the  Bible  is 
to  be  regarded  as  embodying  the  laws  of  the  divine  moral 
government  below.  On  that  day  the  graves  open,  and  the 
dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God,  and  are  judged 
according  to  the  rule  of  action  disclosed  in  the  Bible,  and  the 
deeds  done  in  the  body. 

INFERENCES. 

1 .  If  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  regarded  as  containing  the 
laws  of  a  moral  government,  revealed  to  illustrate  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  salvation  of  man  ;  then  undoubtedly  they  have,  on 
all  subjects  on  which  they  speak,  a  determinate  meaning.  It 
is  the  peculiar  property  of  laws  to  be  precise  in  their  re- 
quirements and  sanctions.  A  law,  which  requires  nothing 
specific,  is  not  a  law.  If  it  may  mean,  and  does  mean  many 
things,  and  yet  no  one  thing  in  particular,  it  has  no  being. 

If  tlie  Bible,  in  its  precepts  and  doctrines,  does  not  contain 
a  distinct  and  precise  meaning,  it  contains  no  meaning ;  it 
gives  no  illustration  of  the  glory  of  God,  no  account  of  his 
will,  of  the  state  of  man,  of  the  character  of  the  Saviour,  or 
of  the  terms  of  life.  A  blank  book  of  as  many  pages  might 
as  well  have  been  sent  down  from  heaven  for  reason  to 
scrawl  its  varied  conjectures  upon,  as  a  Bible  whose  pages 
are  occupied  with  unmeaning  or  equivocal  declarations. 

2.  If  the  Bible  contain  the  laws  of  a  moral  government  in 


144 

the  manner  explained ;  then  it  is  possible  to  ascertain^  and  to 
know  that  we  have  ascertained^  its  real  meaning.  It  not  only 
contains  a  precise  meaning,  but  one,  which,  being  understood, 
carries  with  it  the  evidence  of  its  own  correctness.  It  is  often 
alleged,  that  there  are  so  many  opinions  concerning  the 
doctrines  of  the  Bible,  that  no  man  can  know  that  his  own 
belief  is  the  true  belief;  and,  on  the  ground  of  this  supposed 
inevitable  uncertainty  is  founded  the  plea  of  universal  charity 
and  liberality :  sweet  sounding  words  for  universal  indiffe- 
rence or  universal  skepticism  !  For  who  can  be  ardently 
attached  to  uncertainty,  or  who  can  believe  any  revealed 
truth  with  confidence,  when  his  cardinal  maxim  is,  that  the 
doctrines  of  the  Bible  are  obscure  and  uncertain  ^  But  who 
is  this  that  libels  his  Maker  as  the  author  of  an  obscure  and 
useless  system  of  legislation,  which  no  subject  can  understand, 
or,  if  he  does,  can  have  competent  evidence  of  the  fact ; — so 
obscure,  that  they  who  discard  it  wholly  are  litde  incom- 
moded by  the  loss,  and  entitled  to  little  less  complacency, 
than  those  who  grope  in  vain  after  its  bewildered  dictates ; — 
so  obscure,  that  those  who  err  are  more  entitled  to  pity  than 
to  condemnation  ;  and  afford  as  indubitable  evidence  oi fidelity 
in  examination,  and  sincerity  in  believing  ivrong,  as  those  do, 
who,  by  mere  accident,  have  stumbled  on  the  truth  without 
the  possibility  of  knowing  it. 

This  is  indeed  a  kind  hearted  system  in  its  aspect  upon 
man,  but  how  tremendous  its  reaction  upon  the  character 
of  God.  Why  are  his  revealed  statutes  with  their  sanctions 
so  obscure  .''  Because  he  could  not  make  them  intelligible  ? 
You  impeach  his  wisdom.  Why  then  are  they  so  obscure  .'* 
Because  he  would  not  make  them  plain  ?  You  impeach  his 
justice  ;  for  he  commands  his  truth  to  be  loved  and  obeyed, — 
an  unjust  demand,  if  its  obscurity  prevents  the  possibility 
of  understanding  it. 

But  it  is  demanded  ;  how  can  you  knoiv  that  your  opinion, 
among  various  conflicting  opinions,  is  exclusively  correct  .'* 
You  may  believe  that  you  are  right,  but  your  neighbor  be- 


145 

lieves  that  he  is  right ;  and  you  are  both  equally  confident, 
and  both  appeal  to  the  Bible.  If  the  question  were,  how  can 
I  cause  my  neighbor  to  know  that  his  opinion  is  incorrect  and 
mine  true,  I  should  admit,  that  the  difficulty,  in  given  cases, 
may  be  utterly  insurmountable.  But  to  suppose,  that,  be- 
cause I  cannot  make  others  perceive  evidence  which  I  per- 
ceive, therefore,  my  perception  brings  with  it  to  me,  no 
evidence  of  truth,  implies  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  moral 
certainty  derived  from  evidence  ;  and  that  the  man  who 
believes  a  fact  upon  evidence,  has  in  himself  no  better  ground 
of  certainty,  than  the  man  who  believes  a  fact  without  evi- 
dence, or  even  against  evidence  :  that  a  reality,  actually  seen 
and  felt  to  be  such,  affords  to  him  who  either  sees  or  feels, 
no  higher  evidence  of  its  existence,  than  a  fiction,  supposed 
to  be  a  reality,  affords  of  its  actual  existence.  That  is,  a 
thing  which  does  not  exist,  may  possess  as  high  claims  to  be 
recognized  as  a  reality,  as  a  real  existence,  supported  by 
evidence  :  for  error  in  competition  with  truth,  is,  in  fact,  a 
non-existence  opposed  to  a  reality.  Now  the  man  who  holds 
an  erroneous  opinion  may  be  as  confident  of  its  truth,  as  the 
man  who  believes  the  truth  ;  but  is  there,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  the  same  foundation  for  his  confidence  ?  Has  not 
the  man,  who  sees  the  truth  and  its  evidence,  knoivledge, 
which  the  deceived  man  has  not  ?  If  you  deny  it,  you  deny 
first  principles  ;  you  annihilate  the  efficacy  of  evidence  as 
the  basis  of  knowledge,  and  introduce  universal  skepticism. 
Every  vagary  of  the  imagination,  and'  every  prejudice  of 
the  heart,  are  as  likely  to  be  true,  as  points  most  clearly 
proved. 

But  if  the  confidence  in  truth  and  falsehood  be  the  same, 
how  can  you  be  sure  that  you  do  see  what  you  think  you  do  ; 
and  that  your  opinion  is  not  the  mental  deception  ^  It  is 
the  same  question  repeated,  and  I  return  the  same  answer — 
I  can  know,  if  my  opinion  be  correct,  that  it  is  so,  because 
evidence  seen  and  felt  creates  a  moral  certainty  ;  because 
reality  affords  evidence  above  fiction,  and  existence  affords 


146 

evidence  above  non-existence.  How  can  fiction  annihilate 
realities ;  and  how  can  deception  cancel  the  perceived  evi- 
dence of  truth  ? 

If  you  would  witness  the  folly  of  the  maxim,  that  truth  and 
evidence  afford  no  certainty  amid  conflicting  opinions,  reduce 
it  to  practice.  The  man  who  dreams  is  as  confident  that  he 
is  awake,  as  I  am,  who  in  reality  am  awake.  Is  it  then 
doubtful  which  is  awake,  and  utterly  impossible  for  rae  to 
decide  whether  I  dream,  or  my  neighbor  ?  The  lunatic  feels 
as  confident  that  he  is  a  king,  as  the  occupant  of  the  throne. 
The  royal  personage  then  must  hold  his  thoughts  in  equilibrio ; 
for  here  is  belief  opposed  to  belief,  and  confidence  opposed 
to  confidence.  Do  you  say  that  the  man  is  insane  ?  But  he 
believes  all  except  himself  to  be  insane  ;  and  who  can  tell 
that  any  man  is  in  his  right  mind,  so  long  as  there  is  a  lunatic 
upon  earth  to  question  it  ? 

Godwin  taught,  and  many  a  robber  has  professed  to  be- 
lieve, that  private  property  is  an  encroachment  upon  the 
rights  of  man.  If  your  purse,  then,  should  be  demanded 
upon  the  highway,  you  may  not  refuse ;  for  the  robber  be- 
lieves his  opinion  about  liberty  and  equality  to  be  true,  and 
you  believe  yours  to  be  true,  and  both  are  equally  confident. 
It  is  also  a  speculative  opinion  about  which  you  differ,  and 
one  concerning  which  great  men  have  differed,  and  perhaps 
always  will  differ.  You  need  not  reason  with  him,  for,  since 
you  cannot  be  sure  that  you  are  right,  how  can  you  expect 
to  make  him  know  what  you  cannot  know  yourself^  and  as 
to  the  law  of  the  land,  it  would  be  persecution,  for  a  mere 
matter  of  opinion,  to  appeal  to  that,  even  if  you  could.  Be- 
sides, how  could  a  court  and  jury  decide  what  is  true  amid 
conflicting  opinions  on  the  subject ;  and  what  right  have  they 
authoritatively  to  decide  and  hind  others  by  their  decisions, 
upon  matters  of  mere  speculation  ? 

But  how  shall  a  man  help  himself,  who  really  and  confi- 
dently believes  falsehood  to  be  truth  ?  Just  as  other  men  in 
other  cases  help  themselves,   who  by  folly  or  crime,  have 


147 

brought  calamities  upon  themselves.  How  shall  a  man  help 
himself,  who  has  wasted  his  property  ? — perhaps  he  never  will, 
but  will  die  a  beggar.  How  shall  a  man-  help  himself,  who 
through  negligence  or  crime  has  taken  poison  and  fallen  into 
a  lethargy  ? — He  may  never  awake  :  believing  falsehood  to 
be  truth  may  be  a  calamity  irretrievable  ;  the  man  must 
perish,  if  the  error  be  a  fundamental  one,  unless  he  renounce 
it  and  embrace  the  truth  ;  and  his  case,  in  many  instances, 
may  be  nearly  hopeless.  Instead  of  its  being  a  trivial  matter 
what  our  opinions  are  ; — it  is  easy,  by  the  belief  of  error,  to 
place  ourselves  almost  beyond  the  hope  of  heaven,  even  in 
the  very  region  of  the  shadow  of  death.  What  a  man  viay 
do  and  ought  to  do,  is  one  thing  ;  and  what  he  unll  do,  may 
be,  fatally,  a  different  thing.  "  Their  eyes  have  they  closed, 
lest  at  any  time  they  should  see  and  be  converted,  and  I 
should  heal  them." 

3.  If  the  Bible  contains  a  system  of  Divine  L^ws,  it  is 
easy  to  perceive  the  high  importance  of  revealed  truth. 

It  exhibits  the  divine  character  as  the  great  object  of  reli- 
gious affection.  It  embodies  the  precepts  of  the  divine  moral 
government,  prescribes  the  affections  to  be  exercised,  their 
nature,  object,  and  degree  ',  and  the  actions  by  which  they 
are  to  be  expressed.  It  embodies  all  the  motives  by  wiiich 
God  restrains  his  subjects  from  transgression,  and  excites 
them  to  obedience.  It  exhibits  the  character  of  man  as  de- 
praved and  lost,  and  discloses  by  whom,  and  by  what  means, 
an  atonement  has  been  made,  and  upon  what  terms  pardon 
may  be  obtained.  It  is  the  means  employed  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  to  awaken  the  sinner  to  a  sense  of  his  danger,  and  to 
bring  home  to  his  heart  a  deep  conviction  of  his  guilt  and 
just  condemnation.  It  is  by  the  truth  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
converts  the  soul,  and  sanctifies  the  heart,  and  sheds  abroad 
the  love  of  God,  and  awakens  hope,  and  diffuses  peace 
and  joy. 

« •  The  truths  of  revelation  are  as  important,  as  the  illus- 
tration of  tlie  glory  of  God,   and   the  happiness  «f  the  holy 


148 

universe  caused  and  perpetuated  by  their  instrumentality 
through  all  his  dominions,  and  through  eternity.  In  this 
view  of  the  subject,  how  irreverent  the  maxim,  "  JVo  matter 
what  a  man  believes,  provided  his  life  be  correct :"  a  maxim, 
which  abrogates  the  law  of  God  in  its  claims  upon  the  heart ; 
annihilates  the  doctrine  that  intention  decides  the  moral 
nature  of  actions,  and  the  doctrine  that  motives  are  the 
means  of  moral  government ;  and  reduces  all  obedience  to 
the  mere  mechanical  movements  of  the  body.  No  matter 
whether  a  man  believe  or  disbelieve  the  divine  existence  ; 
whether  he  love  or  hate  the  Lord  ;  whether  he  trust  in  or 
despise  the  Saviour  ;  whether  he  repent  of  his  sins  or  remain 
incorrigible ;  whether  his  motives  to  action  be  good  or  bad  : 
if  the  mere  motion  of  his  lip,  hand,  and  foot,  be  according  to 
rule,  all  is  well.  Is  not  this  breaking  the  bands  of  Christ, 
and  casting  away  his  cords  ?  Is  it  not  saying  to  Jehovah, 
"  Depart  from  us,  for  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy 
ways  !"  With  equal  irreverence,  it  is  alleged  to  be  of  little 
consequence  what  a  man  believes,  provided  he  be  sincere. 
But  what  is  sincerity  ?  It  is  simply  believing  as  we  profess 
to  believe  ;  and  the  unblushing  avowal  is,  that  the  Bible  is  a 
worthless  book,  no  better  than  the  Alcoran,  or  the  fictions  of 
Paganism,  or  the  superstitions  of  Popery.  "  No  matter 
what  a  man  believes,  provided  he  does  believe  it  /"  False- 
hood, then,  believed  to  be  true,  is  just  as  pleasing  to  God, 
and  just  as  salutary  in  its  influence  upon  man,  as  the  com- 
bined wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  disclosed  in  his  own 
most  holy  code  of  revealed  laws. 

The  merest  fictions  of  the  brain,  or  the  most  malignant 
suggestions  of  a  depraved  heart,  are  as  salutary  as  the  laws 
of  God.  What  authority  have  you  for  this  opinion  ?  Where 
have  you  learned  that  Jehovah  is  regardless  of  his  honor, 
and  the  manifestation  of  his  glory  ;  is  regardless  of  his  laws, 
and  their  sanctions ;  is  regardless  of  man,  and  the  object  of 
his  affections,  and  the  means  of  his  salvation  ?  You  have 
not  learned  this  from  the  Bible.     You  are  an  infidel,  if  you 


149 

believe  the  maxim,  that  it  is  no  matter  what  a  man  believes 
provided  he  be  sincere  j  and  if  you  believe  in  no  God  but 
such  an  one  as  this  maxim  supposes,  you  are  an  atheist. 
The  great  end  of  all  the  works  of  Jehovah,  according  to  the 
Bible,  is  the  manifestation  of  his  true  character  to  created 
intelligences,  as  the  source  of  everlasting  love,  and  confi- 
dence, and  joy,  and  praise. — But  this  glory  is  not  an  object 
of  direct  vision — it  is  manifested  glory  :  and  the  system  of 
manifestation  is  the  plan  of  redemption  disclosed  in  the 
Bible,  and  carried  into  effect  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  giving 
efficacy  to  revealed  truth  in  the  sauctification  and  salvation  of 
man.  It  is  by  the  church,  that  he  makes  known  to  princi- 
palities and  powers,  in  heavenly  places,  the  manifold  wisdom 
of  God.  Without  just  conceptions,  then,  of  revealed  truth, 
the  true  character  of  God  is  not  manifested,  and  cannot  of 
course  become  an  object  of  affection,  or  source  of  joy. 
Erroneous  conceptions  of  revealed  truth  eclipse  the  glory  of 
God  in  its  progress  to  enlighten  and  enrapture  the  universe. 
They  propagate  falsehood  concerning  God,  through  all  parts 
of  his  dominions  where  they  prevail,  undermine  confidence, 
annihilate  affection,  and  extinguish  joy.  They  arrest  the 
work  of  redemption  ;  for  moral  influence  is  the  influence  by 
which  God  redeems  from  sin,  and  revealed  truth  embodies 
that  influence.  When  that  light  has  been  wantonly  extin- 
guished, God  will  not  sanctify  men  by  the  sparks  of  their 
own  kindling  ;  or  hold  those  guiltless  who  have  perpetrated 
the  deed.  The  Most  High  is  not  regardless  of  the  opinions 
his  subjects  form  concerning  him.  He  has  given  them  the 
means  of  forming  just  conceptions  of  his  character  ;  and  if 
they  wantonly  libel  their  Maker  to  their  own  minds,  or  to 
others,  he  will  punish  them.  He  is  not  indifferent  what 
objects  we  regard  with  supreme  affection,  and  as  our  su- 
preme good.  He  has  exhibited  his  true  character,  and  com- 
manded us  to  love  him  ;  and,  if  we  pervert  his  character 
and  worship  other  gods,  he  will  punish  the  idolatry.  He  is 
not  regardless  of  his  own  laws,  nor  of  the  moral  influence  by 
20 


150 

which  he  restrains  and  sanctifies.  He  has  made  them  plain  ; 
and  it  is  at  our  peril,  if  we  falsify  them,  and  break  their  force 
upon  our  own  minds,  or  the  minds  of  others.  "  Wo  unto 
them  that  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil,  that  put  darkness  for 
light,  and  light  for  darkness,  that  put  bitter  for  sweet,  and 
sweet  for  bitter." — "  As  they  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in 
their  knowledge,  God  gave  them  over  to  a  reprobate  mind." 
— "  Whose  coming  is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with  all 
deceivableness  of  unrighteousness  in  them  that  perish,  be- 
cause they  received  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might 
be  saved  : — And  for  this  cause,  God  shall  send  them  strong 
delusions,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie,  that  they  all  might 
be  damned  who  believe  not  the  truth,  but  have  pleasure  in 
unrighteousness."  Do  these  passages  teach  that  it  is  of  no 
consequence  what  a  man  believes,  provided  he  is  sincere  f 

4.  If  the  Scriptures  contain  a  system  of  Divine  Laws  ; 
then,  in  expounding  their  meaning,  their  supposed  reasona- 
bleness or  unreasonableness  is  not  the  rule  of  interpretation. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  some,  that  the  Scriptures  were  not  in- 
fallibly revealed  in  the  beginning  ;  and  that  they  have  since 
been  modified  by  art  and  man's  device,  until  what  is  divine 
can  be  decided  only  by  an  appeal  to  reason.  What  is  rea- 
sonable on  each  page  is  to  be  received,  and  what  is  unrea- 
sonable is  to  be  rejected.  The  obvious  meaning  of  the  text, 
according  to  the  established  rules  of  expounding  other  books, 
is  not  to  be  regarded  ;  but  what  is  reasonable,  what  the  text 
ought  to  say,-  is  the  rule  of  interpretation.  Every  passage 
must  be  tortured  into  a  supposed  conformity  with  reason  ;  or, 
if  too  incorrigible  to  be  thus  accommodated,  must  be  expung- 
ed as  an  interpolation. 

It  is  admitted,  that,  without  the  aid  of  reason,  the  Bible 
could  not  be  known  to  be  the  will  of  God,  and  could  not  be 
understood.  Reason  is  the  faculty  by  which  we  perceive 
and  weigh  the  evidence  of  its  inspiration,  and  by  which  we 
perceive  and  expound  its  meaning.  Reason  is  the  judge  of 
evidence,  whether  the  Bible  be  the  word   of  God ;  but  that 


161 

point  decided,  it  is  the  judge  of  its  meaning  only  according  to 
the  common  rules  of  exposition.  Deciding  whether  a  law  be 
reasonable  or  not,  and  deciding  what  the  law  is,  are  things 
entirely  distinct ;  and  the  process  of  mind  in  each  case  is 
equally  distinct ; — the  one  is  the  business  of  the  legislator, 
the  other  is  the  business  of  the  judge.  In  making  laws,  their 
adaptation  to  public  utility,  their  expediency,  and  equity,  are 
the  subjects  of  inquiry  ;  and  here  the  reasonableness  or  un- 
reasonableness of  a  rule  must  decide  whether  it  shall  become 
a  law  or  not.  But  when  the  Judge  on  the  bench  is  to  ex- 
pound this  law,  he  has  nothing  to  do  with  its  policy,  or  utility, 
or  justice.  He  may  not  look  abroad  to  ascertain  its  adapta- 
tion to  the  public  good,  or  admit  evidence  as  to  its  effects  ; 
he  is  bound  down  rigidly  to  the  duty  of  exposition.  His  eye 
is  confined  to  the  letter,  and  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  terms, 
according  to  the  usages  of  language. 

But  what  is  meant  by  the  terms  reasonable  and  unreason- 
able, as  the  criterion  of  truth  and  falsehood  ^  It  cannot  be, 
what  we  should  naturally  expect  God  would  do  ;  for  who, 
under  the  reign  of  infinite  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness, 
would  have  expected  a  world  hke  this — a  world  full  of  sin 
and  misery.  It  cannot  be  what  is  agreeable  to  our  feelings 
or  coincident  with  our  wishes,  for  we  are  depraved ;  and  the 
feelings  of  traitors  may  as  well  be  the  criterion  of  rectitude 
concerning  human  governments,  as  the  feelings  of  the  human 
heart  respecting  the  divine. 

The  appropriate  meaning  of  the  term  reasonable,  in  its  ap- 
plication to  the  laws  of  God,  is,  the  accordance  of  his  laws 
and  administration  with  what  is  proper  for  God  to  do,  in  order 
to  display  his  glory  to  created  minds,  and  secure  from  ever- 
lasting to  everlasting  the  greatest  amount  of  created  good. 

But  who,  with  finite  mind  and  depraved  heart,  is  competent 
to  test  the  revealed  laws  and  administration  of  Jehovah  by 
this  rule  ?  In  order  to  decide,  upon  this  vast  scale,  whether 
the  doctrines  and  duties  of  the  Bible,  and  the  facts  it  discloses 
of  divine  administration  are  reasonable   or  not,  the    premises 


152 

must  be  comprehended.  God  must  be  comprehended  ;  the 
treasures  of  his  power,  the  depths  of  his  wisdom,  the  infinity 
of  his  benevolence,  his  dominions  must  be  comprehended ; 
the  greatest  good  must  be  known,  and  the  most  appropriate 
means  for  its  attainment.  All  his  plans — the  whole  chain 
of  causes  and  effects  throughout  the  universe  and  through 
eternity,  the  effect  of  each  alone,  and  of  all  combined,  must 
lie  open  and  naked  to  the  inspection  of  reason.  Reason  must 
ascend  the  throne  of  God,  and,  from  that  high  eminence, 
dart  its  vision  through  eternity,  and  pervade  with  steadfast 
view  immensity,  to  decide  whether  the  precepts  and  doc- 
trines revealed  in  the  Bible,  come  in  their  proper  place,  and 
are  wise  and  good  in  their  connexion  with  the  whole  ;  whe- 
ther they  will  best  illustrate  the  glory  of  God,  and  secure  the 
greatest  amount  of  created  good  in  a  government  which  is  to 
endure  forever.  But  is  man  competent  to  analyze  such  pre- 
mises, to  make  such  comparisons,  to  draw  such  conclusions  ? 
If  God  has  not  revealed  intelligibly  and  infallibly  the  laws 
of  his  government  below,  man  cannot  supply  the  defect.  If 
holy  men  of  old  spake  not  as  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  them 
utterance,  but  as  their  own  falhble  understandings  dictated  ; 
and  if,  since  that  time,  the  sacred  page  has  been  so  corrupted, 
that  exposition  according  to  the  ordinary  import  of  language 
fails  to  give  the  sense,  then  it  cannot  be  disclosed  ;  and  the 
infidel  is  correct  in  his  opinion  that  the  light  of  nature  is  man's 
only  guide.  The  laws  of  God  are  lost — the  Bible  is  gone 
irrecoverably,  until  God  himself  shall  give  us  a  new  edition, 
purified  by  his  own  scrutiny,  and  stamped  by  his  own  infalli- 
bility. 

Apply  these  maxims  concerning  the  fallibility  of  revelation 
and  the  rule  of  interpretation,  to  the  laws  of  this  common- 
wealth. The  wisdom  of  your  ablest  men  has  been  concen- 
trated in  a  code  of  laws  :  but  these  laws,  though  perfect  in 
the  conception  of  those  who  made  them,  were  committed  to 
writing  by  scribes  incompetent  to  the  duty  of  making  an  exact 
record,  and   the  publication  was   intrusted   without  superin- 


153 

tendence  to  incompetent  workmen,  who  by  their  blunders, 
honest  indeed,  but  many  and  great,  defaced  and  marred  the 
vohime  :  to  which  add,  that  at  each  new  edition,  every 
criminal  in  the  State  had  access  to  the  press  and  modified  the 
types,  to  suit  his  sinister  designs.  What  now  is  your  civil 
code  ? — You  have  none. — The  law  is  so  blended  with  defect 
and  corruption,  that  no  principles  of  legal  exposition  will  extri- 
cate the  truth.  What  then  shall  be  done  ?  Your  wise  men 
consult  and  come  to  the  profound  conclusion,  that  such  parts 
only  of  the  statute  book  as  are  reasonable,  shall  be  received 
as  law  ;  that  what  is  reasonable,  each  subject  of  the  common- 
wealth, being  a  reasonable  creature,  must  decide  for  himself; 
that  the  judges,  in  the  dispensation  of  justice,  shall  first  de- 
cide what  the  law  ought  to  be,  and  thence  what  it  is  ;  and 
that  such  parts  of  the  statute  book,  as  by  critical  torture,  can- 
not be  conformed  to  these  decisions,  shall  be  expunged  as  the 
errata  of  the  press,  or  the  interpolation  of  fraud.  And  thus 
the  book  is  purified,  and  every  subject,  and  every  judge  is 
invested  with  complete  legislative  power.  Every  man  makes 
the  law  for  himself,  and  regulates  the  statute  book  by  his  own 
enactments. 

But  is  this  the  state  of  God's  government  below?  Is  the 
statute  book  of  Jehovah  annihilated,  and  every  man  constitu- 
ted his  own  lawgiver  I  The  man  who  is  competent  to  decide 
in  this  extended  view,  what  is  reasonable,  and  how,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  interests  of  the  universe,  the  Bible  ought  to  be 
understood,  is  competent,  without  help  from  God,  to  make  a 
Bible.  His  intelligence  is  commensurate  with  that  of  Jeho- 
vah, and,  but  for  deficiency  of  power,  he  might  sit  upon  the 
throne  of  the  universe,  and  legislate  and  administer  as  well 
as  He  who  now  sits  thereon.  The  mariner  who  can  rectify 
his  disordered  compass  by  his  intuiiive  knowledge  of  the 
polai'  direction,  need  not  first  rectify  his  compass,  and 
then  obey  its  direction  ;  he  may  throw  it  overboard,  and 
without   a   luminary    of   heaven,  amid    storms,   and    waves. 


154 

and   darkness,   may   plough  the   ocean,   guided  only  by  the 
light  within. 

5.  From  the  account  given  of  the  Scriptures  as  containing 
a  system  of  moral  laws,  it  appears  that  a  mystery  may  be 
an  object  of  faith,  and  a  motive  to  obedience.  The  idea  of 
a  mystery  in  legislation,  has  been  treated  with  contempt ;  and 
the  belief  of  a  mystery  has  been  pronounced  impossible.  No 
man,  it  is  alleged,  can  be  truly  said  to  believe  a  proposition, 
the  terms  of  which  hs  cannot  comprehend.  Hence  has 
enianated  the  proud  determination,  to  subject  every  doctrine 
of  Revelation  to  the  scrutiny  of  reason  ;  and  to  believe  no- 
thing which  exceeds  the  limits  of  individual  comprehension. 

Now  it  is  conceded,  that,  in  the  precept  of  a  law,  mystery 
can  have  no  place ;  it  must  be  definite  and  plain.  It  is  also 
conceded,  that  no  man  can  believe  a  proposition,  the  terms 
of  which  he  does  not  comprehend.  But  the  mysteries  of 
revelation  are  not  found  among  its  precepts  ;  and  the  proposi- 
tion which  is  the  precise  object  of  faith,  is  never  uninteUigi- 
ble,  but  is  alwa5'S  definite  and  plain. 

A  mystery  is  a  fact,  whose  general  nature  is,  in  some 
respects,  declared  intelligibly  ;  but  whose  particular  manner 
of  existence  is  not  declared,  and  cannot  be  comprehended. 
The  proposition  which  declares  the  mystery  has  respect 
always  to  the  general  intelligible  fact,  and  never  to  the  unre- 
vealed,  incomprehensible  mode  of  its  existence.  A  mystery, 
then,  is  an  intelligible  fact  always  involving  unintelligible  cir- 
cumstances, which  of  course,  cannot  be  objects  of  faith,  in 
any  definite  form. 

Allow  me  to  illustrate  the  subject  by  a  few  examples.  God 
is  omnipresent.  This  proposition  announces  a  mystery.  The 
general  intelligible  fact  declared  is,  that  there  is  no  place 
where  God  is  not ;  the  mystery  respects  the  particular  man- 
ner in  which  the  divine  Spirit  pervades  immensity.  That  the 
dead  are  raised,  is  an  intelligible  proposition  ;  but  "  how  are 
the  dead  raised  up,  and  with  what  bodies  do  they  come,"  are 
the    attendant    mysteries  ;  "  It   is  raised    a    spiritual   body." 


155 

The  intelligible  proposition  here  is,  that,  at  the  resurrection, 
the  materials  of  the  natural  body  are  re-organized  in  a  manner 
wholly  new,  and  better  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  mind  ; 
but  in  what  manner  the  spiritual  body  is  organized,  and  how 
it  differs  from  the  natural  body,  are  the  attendant  unexplained 
circumstances. 

Take  one  more  exam])le — the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 
The  Scriptures  reveal  that  there  is  hut  one  God.  They  also 
reveal  a  distinction  in  the  manner  of  the  divine  existence, 
which  lays  a  foundation  for  mutual  stipulations  and  distinct 
agencies  in  the  work  of  redemption  ;  which  distinction  is 
expressed  by  the  names  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  Now 
the  proposition  that  there  is  but  one  God  is  intelligible.  The 
proposition,  that  there  is  a  deviation  in  the  manner  of  the 
divine  existence  from  the  exact  unity  of  created  minds,  is  as 
intelligible  as  if  the  nature  of  this  deviation  were  subjected  to 
the  analysis  of  reason,  and  brought  within  the  limits  of  human 
comprehension.  That  this  deviation  from  the  exact  pattern 
of  unity  as  exhibited  in  the  human  7nind  is  such,  as,  according 
to  the  obvious  language  of  the  Bible,  lays  a  foundation  for 
ascribing  distinct  names,  attributes,  exercises  and  actions,  to 
the  Father,  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  as  intelligi- 
ble a  proposition  as  if  the  precise  nature  of  this  distinction 
was  unveiled  to  the  scrutiny  of  the  human  understanding. 

Will  it  be  alleged,  that,  where  distinction  approaches  so 
nearly  to  absolute  distinctness  and  independency  of  mind, 
there  can  be  no  union  that  shall  constitute  one  God  ^  To 
know  this,  you  must  be  omniscient,  and  comprehend  the 
mode  of  the  divine  existence,  and  all  possible  modes  of  the 
existence  of  Spirit.  You  must  ascertain  that  there  is  but 
one  possible  mode  of  intelligent  existence,  and  that  the  pre- 
cise mode  of  unity  which  appertains  to  the  mind  of  man. 
You  must  not  only  be  unable  to  see  how  any  other  mode  can 
be,  but  you  must  be  able  to  prove  that  it  cannot  be.  But 
are  you  competent  to  do  this  ^  How  then  do  you  know  that 
the  divine  Spirit  does  not  exist ;  and  why  undertake  to  de- 


156 

cide  that  he  cannot  exist  in  such  a  manner,  as  illustrates  all 
that  is  declared  of  his  unity  as  one  God  ;  and  all  that  is 
implied  in  the  distinction  of  names,  and  in  the  intellectual 
and  social  intercourse,  stipulations,  and  distinct  agencies 
recognized  in  the  plan  of  redemption  ?  The  whole  force 
of  the  objection  against  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was, 
how  decomposed  matter  could  be  re-organized  in  a  different 
manner,  and  yet  be  the  same  body.  The  Apostle's  answer  is, 
"  thou  fool,"  cannot  he  who  organized  the  body  at  first, 
organize  it  again  ?  And  after  all  that  heaven,  and  earth, 
and  sea  have  disclosed  of  his  skill  in  the  diversified  organi- 
zation of  matter,  do  you  presume  to  say  that  the  materials 
cannot  be  re-organized  in  a  manner  wholly  new,  and  better 
adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  spirit  f  And  to  every  one  who 
demands  how  the  Supreme  Intellect  can  be  One,  and,  in  any 
sense.  Three,  according  to  plain  scriptural  declaration  ;  the 
same  answer  may  be  given — "  Thou  fool,"  art  thou  om- 
niscient ;  dost  thou  comprehend  all  possible,  and  all  actual 
modes  of  spiritual  existence  ?  Can  there  be  no  mind  but 
after  the  exact  pattern  of  human  intellect ;  and  dost  thou  see 
it,  and  canst  thou  prove  it  ?  Why  then  dost  thou  array  thine 
ignorance  against  Omniscience,  and  exalt  thy  pride  of  reason 
above  all  that  is  called  God  f — There  is  no  alternative  but  to 
claim  the  infallibility  of  omniscience,  and  deny  the  possibility 
of  any  distinction  in  the  maimer  of  the  divine  existence 
which  shall  lay  a  foundation  for  the  language  employed  in 
the  Scriptures  ;  or  to  take  the  ground,  that  no  fact  can  be 
conceived  to  exist,  or  be  proved  to  be  a  fact,  whose  mode  of 
existence  is  incomprehensible ;  a  position  which  destroys  the 
use  of  testimony,  and  the  possibility  of  faith.  For  the  use  of 
testimony  is  to  establish  the  existence  of  facts,  without  re- 
ference to  their  mode  of  existence  ;  but,  according  to  this 
maxim,  facts  cannot  be  conceived  to  exist  in  any  form,  unless 
their  specific  mode  of  existence  be  also  comprehended.  The 
evidence  of  their  existence,  therefore,  is  not  testimony,  but 
some  intuitive  comprehension  of  the  manner  how  they  exist ; 


157 

and  the  assent  of  the  mind  that  they  do  exist,  is  not  faith, 
but  intuition.  Apply  the  maxim,  and  it  will  blot  out  the 
universe ;  for  who  can  comprehend  the  fact  of  eternal  un- 
caused existence.  The  fact  then  is  not  to  be  admitted,  and 
thus  we  set  aside  the  divine  existence.  Or  if  we  admit  a 
single  mystery,  and  recognize  the  being  of  God,  still  we  can- 
not take  another  step  ;  for  how  can  spirit  create  or  move 
matter,  or  govern  mind,  and  not  destroy  free  agency  ?  It  is 
a  mystery  :  therefore  there  is  no  created  world,  and  no 
moral  government.  The  sun  formed  by  chance,  placed 
himself  in  the  centre  ;  and  the  surrounding  orbs,  self-moved, 
began  their  ceaseless  course.  But  how  can  this  be  ?  It  is 
a  mystery  : — and  therefore  there  is  no  sun  and  no  revolving 
system.  A  mystery  then  may  be  an  object  of  faith  ;  for  the 
proposition  which  is  the  precise  object  of  faith  is  always  in- 
telligible, though  always  implying  the  existence  of  unintel- 
ligible circumstances. 

Nor  are  mysteries  useless  in  legislation  as  motives  to 
obedience.  The  divine  omnipresence,  though  a  mystery,  is 
among  the  most  powerful  motives  to  circumspect  conduct. 
And  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  its  mysterious  change, 
are  urged  by  the  Apostles  as  motives  always  to  abound  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  pours  upon 
the  world  a  flood  of  light.  The  peculiar  mode  of  the  divine 
existence  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  plan  of  redemption,  as 
unfolded  in  the  Bible  ;  and  brings  to  view,  as  a  motive  to 
obedience,  an  activity  of  benevolence  on  the  part  of  God,  a 
strength  of  compassion,  a  depth  of  condescension,  and  a  pro- 
fusion of  mercy  and  grace  in  alliance  with  justice  and  truth, 
which  no  other  exhibition  of  the  mode  of  the  divine  existence 
can  give.  It  illustrates  the  riches  of  the  goodness  of  God, 
and  awakens  that  love  which  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law, 
and  that  repentance,  and  gratitude,  and  active  obedience, 
which  the  goodness  of  God,  thus  manifested,  could  alone 
inspire. 

6.  If  the  Bible  contain  a  system  of  divine  laws,  revealed 
21 


158 

and  administered  with  reference  to  the  salvation  of  man  ;  then 
it  is  practicable  to  decide  what  are  fundamental  doctrines. 

Those  doctrines  are  fundamental,  which  are  essential  to 
the  influence  of  law  as  the  means  of  moral  government ;  and 
without  which,  God  does  not,  ordinarily,  renew  and  sanctify 
the  soul.  The  following  have  been  usually  denominated 
fundamental  doctrines. — The  being  of  God ;  the  accounta- 
bility of  man  ;  a  future  state  of  reward  and  punishment  with- 
out end  ;  and  a  particular  providence  taking  cognizance  of 
human  conduct  in  reference  to  a  future  retribution.  Are  not 
these  fundamental  ?  Could  the  laws  of  God  have  any  proper 
influence  without  them  ?  Take  away  the  lawgiver,  or  the 
accountability  of  the  subject,  or  the  cognizance  of  crimes  by 
the  judge,  or  future  eternal  punishment,  and  what  influence 
would  the  Scriptures  have  as  a  code  of  laws  ?  To  allege, 
that  the  remorse  and  natural  evil  attendant  upon  sinning  are 
the  adequate  and  only  punishment  of  transgression,  is  most 
absurd.  Do  the  natural  evil  and  remorse  attendant  upon  the 
transgression  of  human  laws  supersede  the  necessity  of  any 
other  penalty  ?  Is  the  impure  desire  suppressed,  or  intempe- 
rate thirst  allayed,  or  covetousness  dismayed,  or  the  hand  of 
violence  arrested,  by  the  appalling  influence  of  remorse  ?  It 
is  a  sanction  always  inadequate,  which  the  frequency  of  crime 
diminishes,  and  the  consummation  of  guilt  annihilates. 

The  idea  that  gratitude  will  restrain  without  fear  of  punish- 
ment, where  the  confidence  of  pardon  precedes  sanctification, 
is  at  war  wnth  common  sense.  Try  the  experiment.  Open 
your  prison  doors,  and  turn  out  your  convicts  without  coer- 
cion or  fear  of  punishment,  to  illustrate  the  reforming  influence 
of  gratitude.  The  idea  that  future  discipline  for  the  good  of 
the  offender  constitutes  the  only  future  suffering,  regards  sin 
as  a  disease,  instead  of  a  crime  ;  and  hell  as  a  merciful  hos- 
pital, instead  of  a  place  of  punishment.  But  how  suffering 
in  a  prison  with  convicts  old  in  sin  shall  work  a  reformation, 
no  past  analogy  seems  to  show.  Prisons  hav^e  never  been 
famed  in  human  governments  for  their  reforming  influence. 


159 

The  eternity  of  future  punishment,  considering  the  invisi- 
bility and  imagined  distance  of  the  retribution,  and  the  stu- 
pidity and  madness  of  man,  is  indispensable.  If  the  certain 
fearful  looking-for  of  fiery  indignation  without  end,  exerts  an 
influence  too  feeble  to  restrain  from  sin  ;  the  prospect  of  a 
limited,  salutary  discipline  will  have,  comparatively,  no  influ- 
ence. Nor  is  eternal  punishment  unjust,  or  disproportionate  to 
the  crime.  If  the  violation  of  the  law  in  this  world  deserves 
punishment,  it  will  no  less  deserve  it,  though  the  crime  be 
perpetrated  in  another  world  ;  for  probation  and  hope  are  not 
essential  to  free  agency  or  accountability,  and  the  incorrigi- 
ble obstinacy  of  the  rebel  will  not  cancel  the  obligation  of  the 
law.  Endless  wickedness  will  deserve,  and  will  experience 
endless  punishment.  The  deeds  done  in  the  body  will  de- 
termine the  character,  and  shut  out  the  hope  of  sanctifica- 
tion.  But  rebellion  will  hold  on  its  course  unsubdued  by 
sufiering,  and  will  be  the  meritorious  cause  of  eternal  pun- 
ishment. 

The  above  truths  are  essential  to  the  moral  influence  of 
legislation,  generally.  There  are  others,  which  are  no  less 
essential  to  the  Gospel  as  a  system  of  moral  influence,  for 
the  restoration  of  man  from  sin  to  holiness.  These  are  in- 
dicated by  the  peculiar  ends  to  be  obtained  by  the  Gospel. 
If  overt  action  and  continuance  in  well-doing  were  all,  sim- 
ple reward  and  punishment  might  suffice.  But  man  is  a 
sinner, — his  heart  is  unholy, — and  ne\t  affections  are  de- 
manded. Those  truths,  then,  are  fundamental,  without 
which  the  specific,  evangelical  affections  can  have  no  being. 
To /ear,  the  exhibition  of  danger  is  necessary  :  to  repent- 
ance, the  disclosure  of  guilt :  to  humility,  of  unworthiness  : 
to  faith,  of  guilt  and  helplessness  on  the  part  of  man,  and 
divine  sufficiency  and  excellence  on  the  part  of  the  Saviour. 
There  is  a  uniformity  of  action  in  the  natural  and  moral 
world,  from  which  the  Most  High  does  not  depart ;  and 
which  is  the  foundation  of  experimental  knowledge,  and 
teaches  the   adaptation  of   means  to  ends.     Fire  does  not 


160 

drown  ;  and  water  does  not  burn  ;  and  fear  is  not  excited  by 
sentiments  which  exchide  danger  ;  nor  repentance,  by  those 
which  preclude  guilt ;  nor  affectionate  confidence,  by  those 
which  exclude  dependence,  or  the  reality  of  excellence  in 
the  object. 

According  to  the  nature  of  the  human  mind,  the  doctrines 
of  the  Trinity  and  the  atonement,  the  entire  unhohness  of  the 
human  heart,  the  necessity  of  a  moral  change  by  the  special 
agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  justification  by  the  merits  of 
Christ  through  faith,  are  as  essential  to  secure  evangelical 
affections,  as  fire  to  heat,  or  any  natural  cause  to  its  appro- 
priate effect.  The  entire  unholiness  of  the  heart  is  necessary 
to  beget  just  conceptions  of  guilt  and  danger;  the  necessity 
of  a  moral  change,  to  extinguish  self-righteous  hopes,  and 
occasion  a  sense  of  helplessness  which  shall  render  an 
Almighty  Saviour  necessary  ;  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  as 
■  disclosing  a  Saviour,  able  to  save,  and  altogether  lovely^ 
the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  to  reconcile  pardon  with  the 
moral  influence  of  legislation  ;  and  justification  by  faith 
instead  of  works,  because  justification  by  works  cancels  the 
penalty  of  law,  blotting  out  past  crimes  by  subsequent  good 
deeds,  giving  the  transgressor  a  license  to  sin  with  impunity 
to-day  if  he  will  obey  to-morrow,  provided,  his  acts  of  obe- 
dience shall  equal  his  acts  of  disobedience. 

That  these  doctrines  are  fundamental,  is  evident  from  the 
violence  with  whicli*  they  have  always  been  assailed.  The 
enemies  of  God  know  what  most  annoys  them  in  his  govern- 
ment ;  and  the  points  assailed  clearly  indicate  what  is  most 
essential.  The  whole  diversified  assault  has  always  been 
directed  against  one  or  another  of  the  doctrines  which  have 
been  named  in  this  discourse  as  fundamental ;  and  has  had 
for  its  object,  to  set  aside  either  the  precept  or  the  sanction 
of  law,  and  reconcile  transgression  with  impunity. 

One  denies  the  being  of  the  Lawgiver ;  another  discards 
the  statute  book  as  a  forgery;  a  third, subjects  the  laws  of 
Jehovah    to    the  censorship  of  reason,  and    adds,   and   ex- 


161 

punges,  till  he  can  believe  without  humility,  obey  without  self- 
denial,  and  disobey  without  fear  of  punishment :  a  fourth 
saves  himself  the  trouble  of  criticism  by  a  catholic  belief  of 
all  the  Bible  contains,  without  the  presumption  or  fatigue  of 
deciding  what  the  precise  meaning  is :  a  fifth  pleads  the  coer- 
cion of  the  decrees  of  God,  and  denies  accountability,  and 
hopes  for  impunity  in  sin.  Some,  however,  deem  it  most  ex- 
pedient to  explain  away  the  precept  of  the  law  ;  and  therefore 
tliey  assert  that,  to  love  the  Lord  our  God,  does  not  imply 
any  sensible  affection,  any  complacency  or  emotion  of  the 
heart,  but  the  rational  religion  of  perception  and  intellectual 
admiration ;  and,  that,  by  the  heart  is  intended  not  the  heart, 
but  the  head.  Others  assail,  with  critical  acumen,  the^)en- 
alty  of  the  law.  Punishment  does  not  mean  punishment,  but 
the  greatest  possible  blessing  which  Almiglity  God  in  the 
riches  of  his  grace  can  bestow,  considering  the  omnipotence 
and  perverseness  of  man's  free  agency  ;  and  eternal  punish- 
ment means  a  number  of  years,  more  or  less,  of  most  merci- 
ful torment,  as  the  disease  shall  prove  more  or  less  obstinate. 

In  like  manner,  the  attributes  of  God  are  regarded  in  the 
abstract,  dissociated  from  every  idea  of  legislation  and  ad- 
ministration by  reward  or  punishment.  Goodness,  is  good 
nature,  even  to  weakness ;  justice,  is  bestowing  on  men  all 
the  good  they  deserve,  without  inflicting  any  punishment;  and 
mercy,  is  the  indiscriminate  pardon  of  those,  whom  it  would 
be  malignant  and  unjust  to  condemn.  The  goodness  of  God 
as  a  lawgiver,  promoting  the  happiness  of  his  subjects  by  holy 
laws  and  an  efficient  administration  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments, is  kept  out  of  view.  His  character  of  lawgiver  is  an- 
nihilated ;  and  his  glory  as  moral  governor  is  shut  out  from 
the  world,  that  man  may  sin  without  fear. 

All  representations  of  the  character  of  man,  at  variance 
with  the  account  of  his  entire  depravity,  have  for  their  object, 
the  evasion,  in  some  way,  of  the  precept  or  penalty  of  law. 
One  does  it  by  pleading  his  inability  to  obey  the  law  of  God  j 
and  while  he  continues  in  sin  takes  his  refuge  from  punishment 


162 

ia  the  justice  of  God.  Another  pleads  not  guilty,  in  man- 
ner and  form  as  the  Scriptures  allege.  He  denies  that  coin- 
cidence of  holiness  in  the  heart  with  overt  deeds  is  necessary 
to  constitute  obedience;  and  pleads  his  good  actions  in  arrest 
of  God's  decision,  that  "  there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no 
not  one."  He  denies  that  the  heart  is  desperately  wicked. 
If  it  were  true  of  Mam  a  short  space,  the  promise  of  a  Sa- 
viour made  his  heart  better,  and  has  made  all  hearts  better : 
and,  if  not  yet  very  good,  they  are  so  good  as  not  to  need  a 
special  change ;  so  good,  that  attention  to  the  constituted 
ibrms  of  religion  duly  administered  will,  by  God's  blessing, 
without  farther  care  or  perception  of  change,  make  them 
good  enough  ;  as,  when  the  seed  is  sown,  sun  and  rain  cause 
vegetation  and  harvest,  while  the  husbandman  sleeps.  No 
supreme  and  perceptible  love  to  God  is  recognized  as  obliga- 
tory, no  deep  sense  of  guilt,  no  painful  solicitude  about  futu- 
rity, no  immediate  repentance  or  faith  including  holiness,  and 
no  sin  as  being  committed  ;  while  repentance  and  faith  are 
deferred  for  the  slow  operation  of  forms,  in  making  the  sinner 
better,  by  the  unperceived  grace  of  God.  The  Law  with  its 
high  claims  upon  the  heart,  and  the  Gospel  with  its  holy  re- 
quisitions, are  made  to  stand  aloof;  while  the  sinner,  without 
hohness,  by  dilatory  effort,  prepares  himself  to  repent ;  or  by 
lip  service  and  hypocrisy,  prevails  on  the  Most  High  to  give 
him  repentance  unto  life.  The  law  and  Gospel  are  thrust 
aside,  and  the  whole  duty  of  man  is  epitomised  in  the  short 
sentence.  Thou  shalt  sincerely  use  the  means  of  grace  as 
faithfully  as  thou  art  willing  to  use  them;  and,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  and  thine  own  well-doing, 
thou  shalt  be  saved.  In  the  same  manner,  are  the  terms  of 
pardon  divested  of  holiness,  to  accommodate  unholy  hearts, 
reluctant  to  obey,  and  fearful  of  punishment.  Faith  is  intel- 
lectual assent  to  revealed  truth,  without  holiness,  and  too 
often,  without  good  works ;  or  it  is  believing  that  one  is  par- 
doned when  he  is  not,  and  knows  he  is  not,  in  order  that  he 
may  be  pardoned.     It  is  any  thing  but  the  affectionate  confi- 


163 

dence  of  the  heart  in  the  Saviour,  and  the  unconditional  sur- 
render of  the  soul  to  him.  The  rapid  river  in  its  haste  to 
the  sea,  is  not  more  violent  to  sweep  away  obstructions,  or 
evade  them,  than  the  heart  of  man  to  remove  or  evade  the 
humbling  demand  of  immediate  love,  repentance,  and  faith, 
as  the  terms  of  pardon.  • 

But  who  are  those  that  most  bitterly  inveigh  against  these 
doctrines  which  we  regard  as  fundamental.'*  Ts  it  the  most 
serious,  the  most  devout,  temperate,  chaste,  and  circumspect 
class  of  men  ?  Is  it,  judging  from  their  lives  according  to 
the  Bible,  the  righteous,  or  the  wicked — the  church  of  God, 
or  the  world  ?  For  the  righteous,  according  to  the  Scriptures, 
lov6  the  truth,  and  the  wicked  are  opposed  to  it.  Now  if 
we  find  the  most  holy  men,  the  most  sedate,  prayerful,  and 
exemplary  people,  leaguing  against  these  fundamental  doc- 
trines, grieving  at  their  prevalence,  and  trembling  at  their 
effect  in  revivals  of  religion,  and  praying  to  God  with  tears 
to  check  their  prevalence  ;  we  must  abandon  our  confidence 
in  these  doctrines  as  the  true  system.  But  if  the  atheist,  the 
deist,  the  profligate,  the  votary  of  pleasure,  and  the  sons  of 
violence  and  lies,  regard  them  with  a  common  and  almost 
instinctive  aversion  ;  then  we  must  cleave  to  them,  as  receiv- 
ing from  the  world  the  distinctive  evidence  of  their  truth. 
They  have  always  been  charged  with  blasphemy,  and  with 
leading  to  licentiousness  ;  and,  if  the  charge  be  well  founded, 
doubtless  the  blasphemer  and  the  impure  have  always  been 
their  advocates.  But  what  is  the  fact  ?  Are  the  irreligious 
and  profane,  the  licentious,  the  worldly,  and  the  vain,  the 
advocates  for  the  doctrines  of  total  depravity,  regeneration 
by  special  grace,  justification  by  faith,  and  eternal  punish- 
ment ?  With  scarce  an  exception,  they  have  been  open- 
mouthed  and  bitter  in  their  opposition,  reviling  both  these 
doctrines  and  those  who  preach  them.  From  age  to  age, 
they  have  been  the  song  of  the  drunkard,  and  the  standing 
topic  of  profane  cavil  and  vulgar  abuse.  If  good  men, 
through  misapprehension,  have  sometimes  seemed  to  be  op- 


164 

posed  to  them,  they  have  given  evidence  that  the  opposition 
was  only  a  seeming  one  ;  while  in  reality  their  hearts  were 
in  sweet  accordance  with  them.  There  are,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, some  whose  moral  conduct  may  not  have  been 
profligate,  who  have  given  unquestionable  evidence  that  the 
leelings  of  their  hearts,  as  to  these  doctrines,  were  in  exact 
accordance  with  those  of  the  blasphemer  and  the  profligate. 
These  conclusions  concerning  the  doctrines  which  are  funda- 
mental, are  however  controverted  ;  we  therefore  appeal  to  a 
tribunal-  more  infallible  than  our  own  judgment. 

Those  doctrines  are  fundamental,  then,  without  whose  in- 
strumentality, God  does  not  renew  and  sanctify  the  hearts  of 
men. 

That  man  is  unholy,  and,  without  sanctification,  unfit  for 
heaven,  is  certain.  That  God  is  the  agent,  and  truth  the 
means  of  sanctification,  is  equally  manifest ;  and  the  fact,  that 
some  men  do  experience  a  change  in  their  affections,  both  as 
to  their  moral  nature  and  object,  is  as  certain  as  any  fact  can 
be  made  by  testimony.  The  witnesses  testify  to  their  own 
consciousness  of  such  a  change.  Of  this,  they  are  as  com- 
petent judges,  as  of  any  thing  appertaining  to  their  own  expe- 
rience. The  fact  alleged  is,  that  once,  they  loved  the 
world  more  than  God,  and  that,  from  a  given  era  more  or 
less  determinate,  they  have  regarded  the  Lord  their  God 
with  an  interest  and  affection,  wholly  new  in  kind,  and  su- 
perior in  degree  to  their  love  for  any  other  object; — that  they 
regard  him  whh  a  good  will,  and  complacency,  and  confi- 
dence, and  gratitude,  and  joy,  entirely  unknown  to  them, 
until  they  became  the  subjects  of  this  special  change. 
The  witnesses  are  an  innumerable  multitude.  To  the  testi- 
mony of  the  three  thousand,  renewed  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
mav  be  added  the  testimony  of  every  intervening  age,  to  this 
day  ;  for  there  never  was  a  time,  even  in  the  dark  ages,  when 
the  doctrine  of  regeneration  by  the  special  agency  of  the 
Spirit  was  not  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  those  who  pro- 
fessed to  have  experienced  this  change. 


165 

The  capacity  of  the  witnesses  for  judging  correctly,  allows 
nothing  to  be  subtracted  from  the  weight  of  their  testimony  ; 
for  it  has  not  been  the  feebler  sex  only,  and  children,  nor 
the  poor  and  the  ignorant  merely ;  but  wen,  aged,  middle  aged 
and  young,  men  of  affluence,  of  refined  manners,  of  strong 
powers  of  intellect,  of  cool  judgment,  of  firm  fibre  and  un- 
daunted courage,  of  extended  knowledge  and  cultivated  taste, 
of  antecedent  moral  and  immoral  habits,  who  have  united 
their  testimony  with  multitudes  of  every  other  class  of  socie- 
ty, and  with  the  poor  Hottentot  and  Esquimaux,  declaring 
that  with  them,  old  things  had  passed  away,  and  all  things 
become  new. 

The  credibility  of  the  witnesses,  as  persons  of  veracity, 
would  not  be  questioned  on  any  other  subject.  To  this  we 
may  add,  that,  before  the  alleged  change,  most  of  them  con- 
ducted as  if  they  did  not  love  supremely  the  Lord  their  God  ; 
and  afterwards,  to  their  dying  day,  and  in  the  hour  of  death, 
conducted  in  many  respects,  in  a  manner  inexplicable  upon 
any  other  supposition  than  the  reality  of  the  alleged  change. 
It  is  surprising,  that  men  as  philosophers,  do  not  believe  in 
the  doctrine  of  regeneration,  even  though  they  had  no  confi- 
dence in  the  testimony  of  the  Bible  ;  for  no  fact  in  natural 
philosophy,  no  phenomenon  of  mind  is  estabhshed  by  evi- 
dence more  satisfactory  in  its  nature,  than  that  which  estab- 
lishes the  reality  of  a  change  of  heart.  No  fact  was  ever 
proved  in  a  court  of  justice,  by  a  thousandth  part  of  the 
evidence,  which  concentrates  the  testimony  of  milhons  to  the 
fact  of  the  actual  renovation  of  the  heart. 

But  do  not  the  professed  subjects  of  this  change  oftentimes 
apostatize  .''  Sometimes  they  do ;  but  more  than  ninety  in 
one  hundred  do  not  apostatize.  U  the  apostacy  of  ten  be 
allowed  in  evidence  against  the  reality  of  the  change ;  the 
perseverance  of  ten  balances  the  unfavorable  evidence,  and 
leaves  the  unimpeached  testimony  of  eighty  competent  wit- 
nesses in  favor  of  the  reality  of  the  change.  Upon  testimony 
22 


166 

thus  circumstanced,  what  would  be  the  decision  in  a  court  of 
justice. 

But  it  is  alleged  by  some,  that  they  have  experienced  all 
that  appertains  to  this  change  of  heart,  and  know  it  to  be 
vain.  That  they  may  have  experienced  fear  and  trembling, 
such  as  the  faith  of  devils  inspires ;  and  that  these  fears  may 
have  been  succeeded  by  composure  and  joy,  such  as  the 
hope  of  the  hypocrite  affords ;  may  be  admitted.  But 
"  what  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat,  saith  the  Lord  ?"  What  is 
the  blade  without  root  that  withereth,  to  that  which  beareth 
fruit ; — the  plant,  which  our  heavenly  Father  has  planted,  to 
that  which  he  taketh  away  because  it  is  unfruitful ; — the  lamp 
without  oil,  that  goeth  out,  to  that  which  is  replenished  and 
shines  with  growing  light  to  the  perfect  day  ?  Is  it  incredible 
that  a  heart,  "  deceitful  above  all  things,"  should  be  deceiv- 
ed ;  or  that  a  heart  "  desperately  wicked,"  should  find  no 
abiding  pleasure  in  a  religion  which  it  professed,  but  did  not 
feel  ?  "  They  went  out  from  us,  but  they  were  not  of  us  ; 
for,  if  they  had  been  of  us,  doubtless  they  would  have  con- 
tinued with  us."  It  is  not  a  new  thing  to  resist  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  nor  an  impossible  thing,  nor,  we  fear,  a  rare  event,  by 
stigmatizing  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  to  commit  a  sin  which 
shall  never  be  forgiven.  May  God  grant  that  the  lightness 
with  which  some  men  treat  their  past  convictions  of  sin  and 
fears  of  punishment,  do  not  prove  at  last,  the  too  sure  indica- 
tions of  that  hardness  of  heart,  and  blindness  of  mind,  to 
which,  in  his  most  tremendous  displeasure,  the  blasphemed 
Spirit  gives  up  the  incorrigible  sinner. 

This  moral  change  then,  an  indvMiahle  fact,  and  indis- 
pensahle  to  salvation,  is,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  accom- 
phshed  by  the  power  of  God  giving  efhcacy  to  truth.  Men 
are  begotten  again  by  the  Gospel,  born  of  incorruptible  seed 
which  is  the  word  of  God,  and  sanctified  by  the  truth. 
These  blessed  operations  of  the  Spirit  are  experienced 
sometimes  in  solitary  instances,  like  single  drops  of  rain  in  a 
land  of  drought ;  and  sometimes  multitudes,  almost  cotempo- 


167 

raneously,  become  the  subjects,  first,  of  solicitude  and  con- 
scious guilt,  and  afterwards  of  love,  joy,  and  peace. 

But  it  is  also  a  matter  of  fact,  and  a  tremendous  fact  it  is, 
that;  so  far  as  these  glorious  displays  of  the  renovating  grace 
of  God  are  accomplished  by  the  instrumentality  of  preaching, 
they  are  confined  to  the  exhibitions  of  these  doctrines,  which 
we  have  enumerated  as  fundamental.  Where  these  are  faith- 
fully preached,  the  arm  of  the  Lord  is  not  always  revealed  in 
revivals  of  religion  ',  though  in  that  case,  few  ministers  spend 
their  days  without  cheering  interpositions  of  divine  grace  giv- 
ing seals  to  their  ministry.  But  where  the  doctrines  of  the 
Trinity,  the  entire  unholiness  of  man,  the  necessity  of  regene- 
ration by  special  grace,  the  atonement,  justification  by  faith, 
and  future  eternal  punishment  are  not  preached,  or  are  de- 
nounced and  ridiculed  ;  there  the  phenomena  of  revivals  of 
religion  never  exist,  and  solitary  instances  of  regeneration  are 
comparatively  unknown  ;  and  where  they  do  exist,  they  are 
regarded  as  the  effect  of  delusion,  or  as  proofs  of  a  disorder- 
ed intellect,  rather  than  as  indications  of  a  merciful,  divine 
interposition.  The  fact  is  unquestionable,  and  the  statement 
of  it  is  not  invidious,  because  it  is  a  subject  of  exultation  on 
the  part  of  those  unhappy  ministers  who  discard  the  above 
doctrines,  and  whose  people  are  the  subjects  of  this  melan- 
choly exemption  from  the  convincing  and  renewing  operations 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  such  places,  the  light  does  not  even 
shine  into  darkness  ;  but  all  is  as  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death.  No  jubilee  trumpet  is  heard,  announcing  a  release 
from  the  bondage  of  corruption,  and  calling  the  slaves  of  sin 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.  Such  places 
are  not  the  hill  of  Zion,  upon  which  descend  the  rain  and  the 
dew  of  heaven ;  but  they  are  the  mountains  of  Gilboa,  upon 
M'hich  there  is  no  rain,  neither  any  dew.  They  are  the  val- 
ley of  vision,  in  which  the  bones  are  very  many  and  very 
dry,  and  no  voice  is  heard  proclaiming,  "  O  ye  dry  bones, 
hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  ;"  and  no  prayer  is  made, 
"  Come,  O  breath,  and  breathe  upon   these  slain,  that  they 


168 

may  live."  No  voice  announces  a  spiritual  resurrection  ; 
and  no  influence  from  above  begins  it.  All  is  silent  as  the 
grave,  and  motionless  as  death. 

7.  If  the  Scriptures  contain  a  system  of  divine  laws, 
then  the  doctrine  of  the  entire  depravity  of  man  is  not  incon- 
sistent with  free  agency  and  accountability  ;  for  depravity  is 
the  voluntary  transgression  of  the  law,  and  the  law  is,  "  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart ;"  and  entire 
depravity  is  the  constant  refusal  to  love,  in  this  manner,  the 
Lord  our  God.  It  implies,  not  that  men's  hearts  have  no 
kind  sympathies,  no  social  affections,  or  that  these  are  sinful, 
or  that  their  actions  are  all  contrary  to  rule  ;  but  only,  that 
they  have  no  holiness,  no  supreme  love  to  God,  and  there- 
fore, do  not  with  the  heart  obey,  but  do,  with  the  heart,  vol- 
untarily and  constantly,  disobey  the  law.  The  principle 
assumed  in  the  objection  is,  that  if  men  will  with  the  heart, 
obey  the  law  of  God  in  part,  then  they  are  free  agents,  and 
blameable  for  not  obeying  perfectly ;  but  if  they  violate  the 
law  wilfully  and  wholly,  so  as  not  to  love  at  all,  then  they  are 
not  to  blame.  If  a  man  regulates  his  temper  according  to 
the  Gospel  one  day,  and  the  next,  indulges  malignant  dispo- 
sitions, he  is  a  free  agent,  and  liable  to  punishment ;  but  if 
he  exercise  no  right  affections,  and  every  imagination  of  his 
heart  be  only  evil,  then  the  wrath  of  heaven  must  sleep,  for 
the  man  has  become  too  wicked  to  he  the  subject  of  blame. 
If  a  subject  violate  one  half  the  laws  of  the  land,  he  may  be 
justly  punished  ;  but  if  he  should  press  on  and  tread  them 
all  under  foot,  ,his  accountability  expires,  and  he  may  bid 
defiance  to  retribution. 

8.  The  view  we  have  taken  of  the  Scriptures  as  con- 
taining a  system  of  divine  laws,  illustrates  the  obligation  to 
believe  correctly  and  cordially,  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
the  Bible,  and  the  criminality  of  error  on  these  subjects. 

It  is  a  favorite  maxim  of  some,  that  men  are  not  accounta- 
ble for  their  opinions  with  respect  to  the  doctrines  of  reve- 
lation : — because,  there  is  no  specific  command  that  this  or 


169 

that  doctrine  shall  be  believed  : — because,  they  are  so  ob- 
scurely revealed,  that  no  blame  can  attach  to  the  misun- 
derstanding of  them  : — because,  no  one  doctrine  is  absolutely 
indispensable  to  salvation  : — because,  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bible  are  subjects  of  mere  theoretical  speculation,  of  no 
practical  influence  : — and  because,  belief  and  disbelief  are 
not  voluntary,  but  the  mechanical  and  unavoidable  result  of 
evidence,  or  want  of  evidence. 

It  is  admitted,  that  there  is  no  specific  and  formal  com- 
mand, that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  or  total  depravity,  or 
regeneration  by  special  grace,  or  justification  by  faith,  or 
eternal  future  punishment,  shall  be  believed  ;  for  these  come 
under  the  head  of  motives  ;  and  who  ever  heard  of  a  special 
enactment  requiring  subjects  to  believe  the  declarations  of  a 
lawgiver,  with  respect  to  the  motives  to  obedience  ?  The 
obligation  to  understand  and  believe  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible, 
is  involved  in  the  nature  of  the  Bible  as  a  book  of  law.  The 
subjects  of  Jehovah  are  bound  to  understand  the  laws  of  his 
government  under  which  they  live,  and  to  believe  his  decla- 
rations, without  a  special  enactment  and  a  subjoined  penalty. 
They  are  bound  to  understand  the  character  of  God,  the 
great  object  of  religious  affection  and  foundation  of  moral 
obligation  ;  and  to  act  with  such  a  temper,  and  under  the  in- 
fluence of  such  motives,  as  God  has  required.  But  a  law  is 
never  understood,  whose  precepts  only  are  recognized,  and 
whose  sanctions  are  unknown.  The  character  of  God  is  not 
correctly  and  adequately  disclosed,  merely  by  the  precepts  of 
his  law ;  and  the  motives  to  obedience,  and  the  principles  of 
holy  action  are  found  no  where  but  in  the  doctrines  of  reve- 
lation. If  men,  as  accountable  creatures,  are  bound  to  act 
as  God  commands,  they  are  bound  to  understand  those  doc- 
trines which  disclose  the  principles  and  motives  of  action  ; 
and  this  the  Scriptures,  in  general  terms,  do  command  ex- 
pressly and  often.  The  command  is  reiterated  in  various 
forms  to  know  the  truth,  a  term  comprehending  the  whole 
revealed  system  :  to  love  the  truth,  not  a  part,  but  the  whole 


170 

truth,  which  is  the  Word  of  God  :  and  to  obey  the  truth,  which 
is,  to  believe  what  God  has  revealed,  and  to  do  what  God  has 
commanded,  with  the  temper,  and  under  the  influence  of  the 
motives  which  he  has  disclosed  as  principles  of  holy  action. 

To  say,  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  are  so  obscurely 
revealed  as  to  supersede  the  possibility  and  the  obligation  of 
understanding  them,  is  blasphemy.  It  is  ascribing  to  Jehovah, 
folly,  or  injustice,  or  both.  It  is  annihilating  the  Bible  as  a 
system  of  moral  law ;  for  precepts,  without  intelligible  sanc- 
tions, are  not  moral  government.  Government  lies  in  the 
motives  revealed,  and,  if  these  cannot  be  understood,  they 
are  not  revealed,  and  God  does  not  administer  a  moral 
government  except  by  the  feeble  impulse  of  the  light  of 
nature  : — and  thus  we  land  in  infidelity. 

The  maxim,  that  no  one  doctrine  of  the  Bible  is  absolutely 
indispensable  to  salvation,  and  the  inference  thence  drawn, 
that  truth  is  useless,  and  error  innocent,  is  a  sophism.  It  is 
drawing  general  conclusions  from  particular  premises.  For 
suppose,  that  the  denial  of  any  one  doctrine,  all  the  rest 
being  cordially  believed,  would  not  exile  the  soul  from 
heaven ;  does  it  follow  that  the  disbelief  and  rejection  of  the 
whole  system  would  not  be  fatal  ?  What  if  it  be  true,  that 
no  one  kind  of  nutriment  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  human 
life  ;  does  it  thence  follow,  that  all  nutrition  may  be  safely 
dispensed  with  ?  What  if  no  one  poison  be  so  active,  but 
that  a  very  little  may  be  received  into  the  system  consistently 
with  life  ;  does  it  thence  follow  that. poisons  are  harmless,  are 
nutritious,  and  may  be  safely  employed  as  a  substitute  for 
bread  ?  The  fact  is,  that  those  who  discard  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  discard,  usually,  every  other  fundamental  doc- 
trine. Their  system  is  not  merely  different  from,  but 
opposite  to  that  denominated  orthodox  ;  so  that  if  one  be 
true,  the  other  is  false  ;  if  one  be  sincere  milk,  the  other  is 
poison.  Nor  does  it  follow,  that,  provided  a  real  christian 
might,  without  believing  some  particular  doctrine,  possibly 
attain  to  heaven,  he  could  therefore   dispense  with  it  without 


171 

injury.  Much  less  does  it  follow,  that,  because  a  christian 
may  not  be  absolutely  destroyed  by  some  erroneous  opinion, 
an  impenitent  sinner  may  safely  adopt  it.  An  error,  which 
may  not  suffice  to  destroy  spiritual  life  in  a  believer,  may  be 
decisive  to  prevent  the  commencement  of  it  in  the  heart  of  an 
impenitent  sinner.  Thousands  may  die  an  eternal  death  by 
the  influence  of  an  error,  under  the  operation  of  which,  a 
christian  may  possibly  drag  out  a  meager  spiritual  existence. 
The  opinion,  that  the  doctrines  of  revelation  are  matters  of 
mere  speculation,  or  of  trivial  practical  influence,  is  a  position 
at  variance  with  the  principles  of  law,  with  the  constitution  of 
the  human  mind,  and  with  universal  fact.  It  is  not  true  of 
the  principles  bf  natural  science,  that  they  are  mere  matters 
of  speculation,  and  of  no  practical  influence  on  man.  It  is 
the  practical  influence  of  the  sciences,  which  constitutes  their 
utility.  They  exert  a  powerful  influence  in  the  formation  of 
the  human  character,  and  the  regulation  of  human  conduct. 
The  whole  course  of  the  daily  business  of  the  world,  moves 
on  by  the  illumination  and  potent  energy  of  the  sciences. 
Much  less  is  it  a  fact,  that  truth  contained  in  moral  laws,  has 
no  influence.  It  is  here,  that  the  kind  of  truth  is  precisely 
that  which  is  most  adapted  to  move  free  agents  ;  and  comes 
to  the  understanding,  and  conscience,  and  heart,  with  a  de- 
signed concentration  of  influence,  surpassing  all  other  influ- 
ence but  that  of  direct  physical  impulse.  The  whole  motive 
in  legislation  lies  in  the  sanctions  of  law  ;  and  these  have 
their  influence  through  the  medium  of  opinion.  The  motive 
to  obedience  is,  as  the  opinion  concerning  it  is ;  if  that  be 
correct,  the  true  motive  is  presented  to  the  mind  ;  if  incor- 
rect, the  intended  motive  is  thrust  aside,  and  another  substi- 
tuted. To  say,  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  embodying 
and  presenting  to  the  mind  of  man  that  moral  influence  by 
which  God  governs  him  as  a  free  agent  and  an  accountable 
creature,  are  mere  abstract  speculations,  of  no  moral  influ- 
ence or  practical  eftect ;  is  charging  God  with  incompetency 
in  legislation ;  and  disrobing  him  of  his  character  of  moral 


172 

governor  j  and  destroying  the  accountability  of  man  ;  and 
blotting  out  the  light  of  the  glory  of  God,  as  it  would  other- 
wise be  displayed  in  his  works  of  providence  and  grace. 
But  upon  what  authority  is  it  alleged,  that  the  doctrines  of 
the  Bible  have  no  practical  influence  f  Does  opinion  in  hu- 
man governments,  concerning  the  lawgiver  and  the  sanctions 
of  law,  exert  no  influence  upon  the  character  and  conduct  of 
man  ?  Why  then  should  the  laws  and  sanctions  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Jehovah  exert  no  influence,  so  that  believing  or 
not  believing  its  fundamental  truths  shall  have  no  effect  ? 
Doctrines  in  religion  do  exert  a  powerful  influence.  Have 
the  doctrines  of  the  Koran  proved  themselves  idle  theories, 
of  no  practical  influence  ;  or  the  doctrines  of  Paganism,  or 
the  doctrines  of  Popery  ?  Have  the  doctrines  of  Calvin  and 
Arminius  no  effect,  or  precisely  the  same  effect  ?  Why  then 
oppose  the  one,  and  eulogise  the  other,  when  both  are  equally 
good  or  equally  useless  ? 

No  truth  in  legislation,  human  or  divine,  is  merely  specu- 
lative ;  however  it  may  appear  such.  What  can  be,  appa- 
rently, more  entirely  speculative  than  the  opinion  of  the 
Gnostics,  that  all  moral  impurity  lies  in  matter.  But  from 
this  opinion,  as  a  fountain,  Avowed  the  denial  of  the  human 
nature  and  death  of  Christ,  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  the  doctrine  of  penance  and  pur- 
gatory, and  the  host  of  cruelties  and  fooleries  which  have 
taxed  and  tormented  the  world.  Travel  over  benighted 
Asia,  and  witness  the  operation  of  the  same  opinion  in  the 
ablutions  of  the  Ganges,  and  the  self-inflicted  torture  of  de- 
votees to  subdue  the  sin,  which  is  in  matter,  and  render  the 
spirit  pure  and  acceptable  to  the  gods.  That  Mahomet  is 
the  true  prophet,  is  a  speculative  opinion  ;  but  it  has  carried 
fire  and  sword  in  its  course,  and  ruled  the  nations  with  a  rod 
of  iron,  and  dashed  them  in  pieces  as  a  potter's  vessel. 
That  the  Pope  is  the  successor  of  Peter,  and  universal  and 
infallible  bishop,  is  a  matter  of  mere  opinion  ;  but  it  is  an 
opinion  which  has  immured  the  nations  of  Europe  in  a  dun- 


173 

geon,  and  bound  them  in  chains,  and  ahiiost  extinguished  the 
human  intellect.  That  there  is  no  God,  that  the  end  sanctions 
the  means,  and  that  death  is  an  eternal  sleep,  are  mere 
opinions  ;  but  fire,  and  blood,  and  wailing,  and  gnashing  of 
teeth,  have  attended  their  march  over  desolated  Europe. 
Considering  man  as  a  mere  animal,  the  atheists  of  the  French 
revolution  destroyed  his  life  with  as  little  ceremony,  as  they 
would  crush  an  insect.  The  fact  is,  that  among  moral  agents, 
opinions  respecting  law  and  the  sanctions  of  law,  are  princi- 
ples of  action  ;  and  no  great  aberration  from  rectitude  in  prac- 
tice can  be  named,  with  respect  to  public  bodies  or  individu- 
als, which  is  not  caused  or  justified  by  some  false  opinion. 
The  opinion,  that  behef  and  disbelief  are  mechanical,  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  influence  of  the  heart,  of  interest,  passion, 
and  prejudice,  is  the  consummation  of  folly. — Evidence  may 
be  so  powerful,  as  to  render  incredulity  impossible  ;  and  so 
feeble,  as  to  render  belief  impossible.  But  an  entire  tem- 
perate zone  lies  between  these  two  extremes,  in  which 
inclination  and  aversion,  passion  and  prejudice,  exert  as  de- 
cisive an  influence  upon  the  understanding,  as  evidence  itself. 
If  not,  whence  the  maxim,  that  no  man  may  judge  in  his  own 
cause  ?  Is  it  because  all  men  are  dishonest ;  or  is  it  because 
interest  is  known  to  pervert  the  judgment  even  of  honest 
men  ?  Whence  all  the  unmeaning  talk  about  sincerity,  and 
prejudice,  and  candor  ?  Who  ever  heard  of  a  sincere,  un- 
prejudiced, candid  pair  of  balances  ?  If  the  mind  decides 
by  scruples  and  grains  of  evidence,  as  the  scales  are  balanced 
by  weights,  why  may  not  the  honest  judge  decide  in  his  own 
cause  ?  Can  interest  vary  the  weights  in  the  balance  ?  How 
can  he  help  himself,  though  the  weight  of  evidence  should  be 
against  his  interest .''  The  fact  is  notorious,  that  inclination 
possesses  a  powerful  influence  over  the  judgment.  Exami- 
nation may  be  neglected  on  one  side,  and  pushed  on  the 
other.  The  evidence  in  favor  of  our  choice  may  be  dwelt 
upon,  and  the  eye  be  turned  away  from  that  which  would 
prove  an  unpleasant  fact.  It  is  practicable  to  suspend  a  de- 
23 


174 

cision,  to  resist  conviction,  to  pervert  arguments  which  prove 
unwelcome  truths,  and  even  to  forget  them  ;  and  to  treasure 
up  for  use  those  which  favor  conclusions  which  we  love. 
The  demonstrations  of  Euclid,  if  their  result  had  been  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  the  total  depravity  of  man,  the  ne- 
cessity of  regeneration,  and  future  eternal  punishments ; 
would  have  produced  as  much  diversity  of  opinion,  and 
brought  upon  his  positions  as  much  contempt,  and  upon  his 
book  as  much  critical  violence,  as  has  been  experienced  by 
the  Bible. 

Erroneous  opinions  are  criminal,  because  they  falsify  the 
divine  character,  and  destroy  the  moral  influence  of  the 
divine  law  ;  because  they  are  always  voluntary,  the  result  of 
criminal  negligence  to  obtain  correct  knowledge,  or  of  a 
criminal  resistance  of  evidence,  or  perversion  of  the  under- 
standing through  the  depravity  of  the  heart ;  and  because  the 
belief  of  error  is  always  associated  with  moral  and  criminal 
affections.  It  is  never  a  mere  act  of  the  understanding  ;  the 
heart  decides,  and  is  never  neutral.  If  a  truth  be  rejected, 
it  is  also  hated ;  if  an  error  be  embraced,  it  is  also  loved. 
It  is  because  men  have  no  pleasure  in  the  truth,  but  have 
'pleasure  in  unrighteousness,  that  they  are  given  over  to  be- 
lieve a  lie  ;  and  are  punished  for  believing  it,  with  ever- 
lasting destruction.  The  propagation  of  error  is  criminal,  of 
course,  because  it  is  destructive  to  the  souls  of  men  ;  annihi- 
lating the  influence  of  the  divine  moral  government,  and  the 
means  by  which  God  is  accustomed  to  renew  the  soul,  and 
without  which  he  does  not  ordinarily  exert  his  sanctifying 
power. 

9.  In  the  view  of  what  has  been  said,  how  momentous  is 
the  responsibility  of  ministers  of  the  Gospel ;  and  how  aggra- 
vated the  destruction  of  those,  who  keep  back  the  truth,  or 
inculcate  falsehood.  It  is,  as  if  a  man,  not  content  with  his 
own  destruction  by  famine,  should  extend  the  desolation  by 
withholding  nutrition  from  all  around  him  ;  or  not  content 
with  poisoning  himself,  should   cast  poison  into  all  the  foun- 


175 

tains,  putting  in  motion  around  him  the  waters  of  death.  If 
there  be  a  place  in  the  world  of  despair,  of  tenfold  darkness, 
where  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty  glows  with  augmented  fury, 
and  whence,  through  eternity,  are  heard  the  loudest  wailings, 
ascending  with  the  smoke  of  their  torment : — in  that  place  1 
shall  expect  to  dwell,  and  there,  my  brethren,  to  lift  up  my 
cry  with  yours,  should  we  believe  lies,  and  propagate  deceits, 
and  avert  from  our  people  the  sanctifying  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. — And  if  there  be  a  class  of  men,  upon  whom 
the  fiercest  malignity  of  the  damned  will  be  turned,  and  upon 
whose  heads  universal  imprecations  will  mingle  with  the  wrath 
of  the  Lamb,  it  will  doubtless,  my  brethren,  be  ourselves  ;  if, 
as  blind  guides,  we  lead  to  perdition  our  deluded  hearers. 

The  present  occasion  requires  that  a  more  particular  ap- 
plication of  this  discourse  be  made  to  the  Pastor  Elect,  and 
to  the  Missionaries,  who  are  about  to  be  ordained  to  preach 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ  among  the  Gentiles. 

ADDRESS    TO    THE     PASTOR    ELECT. 

My  dear  Brother, 

With  the  consequences  of  unfaithfulness  in  view,  you 
are  about  to  take  the  pastoral  care  of  this  church  and 
congregation.  Their  salvation,  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
human  mind  and  the  constituted  mode  of  divine  operation,  is 
to  be  promoted  or  hindered  by  the  instructions  which  you 
give,  and  the  pastoral  duties  which  you  perform  or  neglect. 
But  be  not  dismayed.  The  reward  of  fidelity  is  as  glorious, 
as  the  punishment  of  treachery  is  dreadful ;  and  with  the 
Bible  in  your  hand,  and  Jesus  Christ  with  you  always,  you 
are  thoroughly  furnished,  and  can  do  all  things.  Your  duty 
is  plain.  It  is  to  explain  and  enforce  the  laws  of  the  divine 
moral  government,  contained  in  the  Bible.  Receive  then, 
my  brother,  that  holy  book  with  implicit  confidence,  as  in- 
cluding your  commission,  and  all  you  have  to  say. — Read  it 
daily  as  a  part  of  your  devotion,  and   study  it   as  a   part  of 


176 

your  profession. — But  remember  that  yours  is  the  office  of  an 
expositor  of  that  divine  book,  and  not  of  a  legislator  to  revise 
and  modify  its  sacred  pages.  Be  not  wise  in  your  own  con- 
ceit ;  and  dare  not  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written.  Bring 
to  your  aid,  for  the  exposition  of  the  Scriptures,  the  re- 
sources of  human  learning  ;  but  bring  with  these,  a  heart 
humbled  with  a  sense  of  its  own  deceitfulness  and  depravity, 
and  filled  with  strong  desires  and  groanings  that  cannot  be 
uttered,  for  the  illumination  and  guidance  of  the  Spirit;  re- 
membering that  ignorance  and  unsanctified  knowledge  alike 
putFup,  and  subject  to  condemnation. 

That  you  may  understand  the  Scriptures,  examine  them 
for  yourself.  Receive  no  opinions  upon  trust ;  and  allow  no 
man  to  dictate  what  you  shall  believe.  But  do  not  use  this 
your  liberty  as  a  cloak  for  rejecting  the  truth,  and  adopting 
licentious  opinions.  Dare  to  think  for  yourself;  and  what  you 
think,  dare  to  preach  ;  knowing  that  divine  wisdom  has  reveal- 
ed no  superfluous  truths,  and  that  all  Scripture  is  profitable. 

Dare  to  think  for  yourself;  but  do  not  imagine  that  inde- 
pendence can  compensate  for  indolence,  or  ignorance,  or 
heresy,  or  hatred  of  the  truth  ;  or  that,  to  be  independent, 
you  must  of  course  despise  antiquity,  and  differ  from  the  vast 
majority  of  the  wise,  and  great,  and  good. 

Dare  to  think  for  yourself.  Let  no  creed  bind  you  be- 
cause it  is  reputed  orthodox,  until  you  perceive  its  agreement 
with  the  Scriptures.  But  then,  though  every  where  spoken 
against,  adopt  it ;  remembering  that  the  Bible  may  be 
epitomized  and  its  meaning  retained,  and  your  reverence  for 
creeds  be  only  reverence  for  the  Bible. 

Dare  to  think  for  yourself;  and  do  not  imagine  .that  the 
faithful  avowal  of  truths  to  which  the  hearts  of  men  are  op- 
posed, demands  less  courage,  than  the  promulgation  of  errors 
grateful  to  the  feelings  of  human  depravity. 

Dare  to  think  for  yourself,  but  give  to  others  the  same 
liberty  ;  and  never  raise  the  pusillanimous  cry  of  intolerance, 
because  others  will  not  think  your  opinions  to  be  harmless,  or 
as  correct  and  salutary  as  their  own. 


177 

Explain  to  your  people  the  moral  law,  as  demanding  love 
to  God  with  all  the  heart ;  and  their  entire  depravity,  as  des- 
titute of  this  holy  love  ;  and  their  danger,  as  exposed  justly 
to  eternal  punishment.  Explain  to  them  the  nature  of  re- 
pentance, as  the  sorrow  for  sin  which  is  inspired  by  love  to 
God  ;  and  the  nature  of  faith,  as  that  confidence  in  the 
Saviour  which  is  the  result  of  holy  love.  Knowing  the  ter- 
rors of  the  Lord,  and  the  love  of  Christ,  set  before  them  the 
sorer  punishment  of  which  he  shall  be  thought  worthy,  who 
shall  tread  under  foot  the  Son  of  God.  When  you  have  ex- 
plained to  your  people  the  great  duties  of  holy  love,  repen- 
tance for  sin,  and  faith  in  the  Redeemer ;  and  have  set 
before  them  the  motives,  which  God  has  revealed ;  urge 
them  with  all  possible  importunity  to  an  immediate  compli- 
ance. Address  them  as  free  agents,  without  excuse  for  the 
least  deviation  from  the  perfect  law  of  God,  or  for  one 
moment's  delay  of  repentance  and  faith.  By  the  terrors  of 
the  Lord  exhort,  and  by  the  mercies  of  God,  intreat  them 
instantly  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  Say  unto  them  with 
reiterated  importunity — "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  whether  they 
will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear  ;  and  wash  your 
hands  of  their  blood,  and  throw  on  them  the  tremendous 
responsibility  of  self-destruction,  if  they  will  die. 

Admit  no  excuse  for  impenitence,  and  no  plea  in  mitigation 
of  guilt :  no  decree  of  God  as  having  any  influence  to  con- 
strain them  to  sin,  or  render  immediate  repentance  impossi- 
ble :  no  doctrine  of  election  or  reprobation,  as  excluding 
them  from  heaven  against  their  wills,  and  driving  them  re- 
luctantly to  hell  :  no  doctrine  of  total  depravity,  as  destroying 
free  agency,  and  rendering  transgression  involuntary  and  un- 
avoidable :  no  doctrine  of  regeneration  by  the  special  agency 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  implying  any  inability  in  the  sinner  to 
love,  and  repent,  and  believe,  which  does  not  consist  wholly 
in  his  refusal  to  obey  the  Most  High.  The  searcher  of  hearts 
perceives  in  these  doctrines,  no  reason  for  modifying  his  de- 
mands of  perfect,  immediate,  and   constant  obedience,  or  for 


178 

mitigating  in  any  degree  the  penalty  of  disobedience,  or  for 
relaxing  the  peremptoriness  of  command,  or  the  earnestness 
of  entreaty. 

But,  my  brother,  whatever  may  be  your  attainments  in 
human  science,  your  might  in  the  Scriptures,  your  popularity 
as  a  preacher,  or  your  estimation  in  the  affections  of  your 
people  ;  let  it  all  be  counted  loss,  in  comparison  with  their 
actual  conversion  to  God.  Set  your  heart  upon  the  great 
blessing  of  a  revival  of  religion.  Desire  it  speedily  and  con- 
stantly. Pray  for  it  without  ceasing,  and  sUr  up  the  members 
of  your  church  to  concentrate,  on  this  point,  the  whole  impor- 
tunity of  the  prayer  of  faith.  And  live,  and  preach,  and 
pray,  and  act  in  such  a  manner,  as  shall  lay  the  best  founda- 
tion to  expect  the  blessing. 

ADDRESS    TO     THE    MISSIONARIES. 

My  beloved  Brethren, 

If  the  Bible  contain  the  Laws  of  the  Most  High  God, 
for  the  restoration  of  man  from  sin  to  holiness ;  then  it  is  not 
a  superfluous  labour  to  translate  the  Scriptures  into  the 
various  languages  of  the  nations,  nor  a  superfluous  charity  to 
send  missionaries  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen. 

There  are  not  a  few,  who  seem  to  regard  the  heathen  as 
not  accountable  for  their  depravity  of  heart,  or  criminal  for 
their  idolatry,  and  scarcely  for  their  immoraUlies  ;  or  as  sub- 
jected to  inconvenience  by  their  superstitions.  They  are  the 
guileless  children  of  our  common  father,  all  afiectionately 
striving  to  please  him  in  ways,  different  indeed  from  those  of 
christian  worship,  but  equally  sincere,  and  equally  well  plea- 
sing to  God,  and  equally  benign  in  their  influence  to  make 
men  happy  on  earth,  and  to  prepare  them  for  heaven.  What 
need  then  of  all  this  sympathy  for  the  heathen,  and  of  so 
much  exertion  and  expense  to  relieve  those,  whose  circum- 
stances, for  time  and  eternity,  are  as  eligible  as  ours .''  Why 
should  their  reverence  for  the  rehgion  of  their  ancestors  be 
weakened,  and  their   "  elegant  mythology"  be   stigmatized, 


179 

and  the  Gospel  be  thrust  into  its  place  ?     Is  not  God  mei-ci- 
ful  ?     Let  Him  then  take  care  of  the  heathen.* 

But  whence  are  derived  these  conceptions  of  the  moral 
character  and  condition  of  the  heathen  ?  Not  from  the 
Bible — they  are  there  all  recognised  as  depraved  ;  all  under 
condemnation  for  their  depravity  of  heart,  and  abominable 
deeds  ;  all  condemned  for  their  idolatry,  as  the  consummation 
both  of  folly  and  guilt,  the  result  not  of  filial  affection  for 
God,  but  of  enmity  against  him,  and  of  a  reprobate  mind,  to 
which  God  has  given  them  up,  because  they  did  not  like  to 
retain  him  in  their  knowledge.  The  wrath  of  God  is  re- 
vealed from  heaven  against  them,  and  they  are  represented 
as  needing  the  Saviour,  the  Bible,  the  Sabbath,  and  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  for  the  same  purpose,  and  in  the 
same  degree  that  we  need  them.  If  the  Gospel  would  be  no 
blessing  to  them,  it  is  none  to  us.  If  their  superstitions  are 
as  salutary  to  them  in  their  moral  influence,  as  the  Gospel 
would  be  ;  they  would  be  as  great  a  blessing  to  us,  as  the 
Gospel  is. 

Make  the  exchange  then,  ye  who  profess  such  charity  and 
philanthropy  towards  the  heathen.  Give  them  your  Bibles, 
and  pastors,  and  Sabbaths,  and  receive  their  idols,  and 
bramins,  and  religious  rites.  Demolish  the  temples  of 
Jehovah ;  and  roll  through  your  streets  the  car  of  Juggernaut, 
"  besmeared  with  blood  of  human  sacrifice,"  and  covered 
with  emblems  of  pollution.  Put  out  the  Sun  of  Righteousness, 
and  bring  back  the  darkness  visible.  Kindle  up  the  fires 
that  shall  consume  annually,  in  a  circumference  of  thirty 
miles,  two  hundred  and  seventy  five  widows  on  the  dead 
bodies  of  their  husbands,  and  leave  behind  thousands  of 
children,  doubly  orphans.  Welcome  to  your  shores  the  re- 
ligion, which  shall  teach  your  children,  when  you  are  sick,  to 
lay  you  down  by  the  cold  river  side  to  die  ;  and  when  their 
mothers  shall  shrink  from   the  glowing  flame,  with  tlieir  own 

*  "  I  would  not  lift  a  finger,"  said  an  infidel  philosopher,  "  to  convert  to  Christiani- 
ty the  whole  Chinese  empire."  This  in  him  was  consistent.  But  what  shall  be 
thought  of  those  who  profess  to  be  christians,  who  will  not  lift  a  finger  iu  the  great 
effort  now  making  to  evangelize  llie  world  ? 


180 

hands  to  thrust  them  in.  Welcome  to  your  hearts  a  religion, 
which  shall  teach  you  to  entice  your  smiling  children  to  the 
waves,  and  plunge  them  in,  to  attract  by  their  cries  the 
sympathy  of  strangers,  or  to  perish  and  become  the  food  of 
alligators.  Welcome  to  your  hearts  a  religion,  which,  if  sin 
shall  annoy,  and  the  fear  of  punishment  invade,  will  send  you 
to  drink  of  the  waters  that  lave  your  shores,  and  wash  in 
their  flood,  as  your  most  effectual  remedy.  Fill  your  houses 
with  Indian  gods,  of  brass,  and  wood,  and  stone  j  and  blow 
the  trumpet  of  jubilee  at  your  emancipation  from  the  Gospel; 
and  shout  before  your  idols,  "  These  be  thy  gods,  O  Israel !" 
Oh,  what  superfluous  benevolence  has  the  Father  mani- 
fested in  giving  his  Son  to  die  for  those,  whom  the  blood  of 
bulls  and  of  goats  might  have  saved,  as  well  as  the  blood  of 
Jesus.  What  mere  enthusiasm  has  actuated  prophets  and 
apostles,  in  their  efforts  to  transmit  to  other  ages  a  book  so 
useless  as  the  Bible,  and.  insthutions  no  better  than  the  horrid 
rites  of  pagan  worship.  When  Jesus  gave  to  the  inspired 
band  their  high  commission,  "  Go  ye  out  into  all  the  earth, 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  ;"  why  did  they  not 
perceive  the  mistaken  zeal  of  their  master,  and  announce,  in 
anticipation  of  the  discovery  of  later  days,  that  the  heathen 
are  holy  enough  without  the  Bible  and  the  foohshness  of 
preaching,  and  save  ages  of  toil,  and  rivers  of  blood.  But 
the  heathen  are  not  holy.  Read  the  first  chapter  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  behold  a  portrait  drawn  by  the 
pen  of  inspiration.  "  Filled  with  all  unrighteousness,  forni- 
cation, wickedness,  covetousness,  maliciousness,  full  of  envy, 
murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity ;  whisperers,  backbiters, 
haters  of  God,  despheful,  proud,  boasters,  inventors  of  evil 
things,  disobedient  to  parents,  without  understanding,  covenant 
breakers,  without  natural  affection,  implacable,  unmerciful." 
This  is  the  result  of  that  heathen  mythology,  so  "  elegant ;" 
and  these  are  those  children  of  our  common  Father,  so 
sincere  in  their  efforts  to  please  him,  and  so  pure,  as  not  to 
need  to  be  washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.     Read  the 


181 

account  of  Buchanan,  and  you  will  perceive  that  the  draw- 
ing is,  still,  to  the  life.  No  pollution  is  washed  away,  no 
stain  of  blood  effaced,  and  no  ray  of  light  has  fallen  upon 
the  canvass  to  alleviate  the  gloom.  Read  your  Bible,  and 
you  will  perceive  that  no  change  for  the  better  is  ever  to  be 
expected,  but  from  the  diffusion  of  the  Bible,  and  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel. 

My  dear  Brethren,  the  heathen  are  neither  holy  nor 
happy. — They  are  depraved,  and  must  be  born  again. — 
They  are  ignorant,  and  must  be  instructed. — They  are  prof- 
ligate, and  must  be  reclaimed. — They  are  debased  by  their 
superstitions,  and  must  be  raised. — They  are  tortured  by 
vain  fears  and  useless  penances,  and  must  be  relieved. — The 
stern  hearted  god  of  this  world  rules  them  with  an  excrucia- 
ting despotism  ;  and  their  groans,  disregarded  for  ages,  have 
at  length  reached  the  heavens  ;  and  the  voice  of  the  Almighty 
has  come  dov/n  from  above,  saying,  "Whom  shall  I  send, 
and  who  will  go  for  us  .'"'  and  you,  brethren,  have  answered, 
*'  Here  are  we,  send  us.'^  God  has  accepted  your  offer  ; 
and  you  are  this  day  to  be  set  apart,  to  carry  the  Bible  and 
to  preach  the  Gospel,  to  the  heathen.  It  is  a  great,  but  it  is 
also  a  glorious  work  ;  and  you  are  not  alone.  God  is  with 
you  : — Jesus  Christ  is  with  you  : — the  Holy  Spirit  is  with 
you  : — the  hearts  of  all  the  pious  are  with  you  : — our  sub- 
stance, we  pledge  for  your  support;  and  our  prayers,  day 
and  night,  for  your  protection,  and  comfort,  and  for  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  heathen,  to  whom  you 
shall  preach  the  Gospel. 

May  the  prayer-hearing  God  bear  you  in  safety  across  the 
deep  ;  open  before  you  in  heathen  lands  an  effectual  door  ; 
make  you  the  blessed  instruments  of  raising,  to  the  fellowship 
of  angels  and  justified  spirits,  thousands,  who  otherwise  had 
died  in  their  sins,  and  been  wretched  and  miserable  forever  ; 
and,  after  a  long  life,  bestow  upon  you  in  heaven  "  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory." 
24 


SERMON  VI. 


THE  DESIGN,  RIGHTS,  AND  DUTIES  OF  LOCAL  CHURCHES. 


1  Tim.  iii.  14,  15. 


These  things  write  I  unto  thee,  hoping  to  com£  unto  thee  shortly :  But  if  I 
tariy  long,  that  thou  raayest  know  how  thou  oughtest  to  behave  thyself  in  the 
house  of  God,  which  is  the  church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of 
the  truth. 

It  has  pleased  God  to  carry  into  effect  his  purpose  of 
redeeming  men,  by  the  instrumentahty  of  a  visible  society 
organized  exclusively  for  that  end.  This  society,  commencing 
its  operations  soon  after  the  fall,  and  extending  them  through 
every  intervening  age,  and  destined  to  labor  in  the  sacred 
cause  till  the  last  day,  has  been  denominated  the  Church  of 
God.  It  is  in  the  text  called  a  house,  as  embodying  in  one 
family  the  children  of  God,  and  as  the  seat  of  their  social 
labors,  protection  and  enjoyment.  By  a  change  of  figure,  it 
is  denominated  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth  ;  to  denote, 
doubtless,  the  actual  efficacy  of  the  church  in  upholding  from 
age  to  age  the  cause  of  God. 

The  first  form  of  the  church  appears  to  have  been  patri- 
archal, in  adaptation  to  the  most  simple  state  of  human  soci- 
ety, as  existing  in  tribes,  originating  in  a  common  ancestor, 
and  united  by  ties  of  blood  and  mutual  interests  and  dangers. 


183 

In  the  church  thus  organized,  the  common  ancestor  was  the 
priest,  to  instruct  his  descendants  and  uphold  the  divine  wor- 
ship. The  life  of  the  patriarch,  extending  in  the  first  ages 
to  nearly  a  thousand  years,  rendered  a  written  revelation  less 
important,  and  gave  to  his  precepts  and  example,  authority 
for  the  maintenance  of  truth  and  the  instituted  worship  of 
God. 

The  next  form  of  the  visible  church  was  one,  which  was 
accommodated  to  the  exigencies  of  a  nation.  The  progress 
of  society  from  the  pastoral  to  the  agricultural  and  commer- 
cial state,  amalgamated  tribes  and  constituted  nations.  By 
these  changes  and  the  reduction  of  human  life  to  an  hun- 
dred and  twenty  years,  the  efficacy  of  patriarchal  instruction 
and  authority  was  destroyed ;  and  families,  having  no  com- 
mon head,  were  scattered  abroad,  and  soon  exchanged  the 
knowledge  and  worship  of  the  true  God,  for  the  fictions 
and  impurities  of  idolatry.  • 

To  counteract  this  propensity  of  man  to  depart  from  God, 
and  to  provide  a  substitute  for  the  patriarchal  system,  the 
Jewish  church  was  organized — an  extended  association  of 
families,  each  of  which  was  made  responsible  to  the  commu- 
nity for  its  fidelity  in  upholding  the  instituted  worship,  and 
for  the  fidelity  of  each,  the  whole  community  is  made  respon- 
sible to  God.  To  the  church  of  God  thus  organized,  was 
given  a  territory,  to  be  held  upon  the  condition  of  constancy 
in  the  maintenance  of  the  true  worship  ;  and  to  aid  the 
church  in  her  work,  a  written  revelation  was  committed  to 
her  care,  and  forms  of  worship  were  prescribed.  When  the 
temporary  purpose  of  this  dispensation  was  answered,  in  the 
preservation  of  religion  until  the  desire  of  nations  had  come, 
and  by  the  oflfering  of  himself,  had  made  propitiation  for  sin  ; 
then,  that  he  might  give  to  his  atonement  a  more  extended 
operation  in  the  salvation  of  man,  the  external  form  of  the 
church  was  again  changed,  in  accommodation  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  world.  This  was  done,  by  requiring  in  all 
nations,  individuals  possessing   the   requisite   qualifications,  to 


184 

associate  under  the  laws  of  Christ,  for  the  advancement  of 
the  great  designs  of  his  kingdom.  Wherever,  therefore,  a 
number  of  individuals,  possessing  the  required  quahfications, 
associate  to  maintain  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel,  they 
become  a  society  incorporated  by  the  God  of  heaven  tvith 
specific  chartered  privileges.  This  is  the  foundation  of  local 
churches.  The  rights  of  these  local  associations,  include  the 
election  of  their  own  officers,  and  the  framing  of  their  own 
articles  of  faith,  and  the  ordering  of  their  own  worship  and 
discipline,  according  to  their  conceptions  of  the  word  of  God. 
The  organization  is  such  as  may  embody,  and  ultimately  will 
embody,  the  population  of  the  world. 

Tt  will  be  the  object  of  this  discourse,  to  Illustrate 

The  designs  of  the  Most  High  in  the  organiza- 
tion OF  local  churches,  and  the  requisite  quali- 
fications   FOR    MEMBERSHIP. 

One  obvious  design  of  local  churches  is  the  consummation 
of  holiness  in  believers,  and  their  preparation  for  heaven. 
Christians  are  imperfect ;  and  if,  in  a  moment,  it  were  possi- 
ble to  efface  every  stain  of  sin,  it  pleases  God  to  accomplish 
the  work  progressively,  by  the  interposition  of  moral  influ- 
ence. The  church  is  the  society  in  which  this  influence  is 
to  be  exerted,  it  is  the  school  of  instruction  and  discipline. 
There,  is  the  sacred  light  of  truth  to  shine,  restraint  to  ope- 
rate, and  impression  to  be  made  upon  the  heart.  There, 
are  the  prayers  of  the  saints  and  their  praises  and  confessions 
to  be  offered.  There,  is  to  be  enjoyed,  mutual  fellowship, 
watchfulness,  exhortation  and  aid  ;  and  there,  the  Lord  com- 
mandeth  his  blessing,  even  life  forever  more.  In  accord- 
ance with  this  primary  design  of  the  church,  apostles  and 
prophets,  evangelists,  pastors  and  teachers,  are  said  to  be 
given  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints, — for  the  edifying  of 
the  body  of  Christ. 

Local  churches  are  designed  also,  to  secure  die  purity  and 
perpetuity   of  revealed   truth.      The   propensity   of  man   to 


185 

change  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie,  is  notorious.  To  coun- 
teract this  determination  of  a  rebel  world  to  forget  God,  the 
reiterated  miraculous  interposition  of  Heaven  has  been  stea- 
dily required,  until  the  sacred  canon  was  completed.  When 
that  event  was  accomplished,  the  lively  oracles  were  commit- 
ted to  the  church,  with  the  responsibility  of  contending 
earnestly  for  the  doctrines,  precepts  and  ordinances,  contain- 
ed in  them.  It  is  in  reference  to  the  agency  of  the  church 
in  maintaining  the  doctrines  and  moral  influence  of  the  Bible, 
that  she  is  called  the  salt  of  the  earth,  the  light  of  the  world, 
and  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth. 

Local  churches  are  organized  also,  for  the  preservation  of 
the  sabbath,  and  the  maintenance  of  the  public  worship  of  God. 
It  is  not  enough,  to  secure  the  salvation  of  man,  that  truth 
is  revealed  and  continued  from  age  to  age,  in  the  Bible  and 
in  the  church.  To  be  made  effectual,  it  must  be  communi- 
cated ;  and  for  this  purpose,  a  system  of  moral  administra- 
tion must  lend  its  instrumentality.  But  in  a  world  lying  in 
wickedness,  the  besetting  influence  of  sloth,  the  temporisings 
of  fear,  the  cravings  of  avarice,  and  the  repellencies  of  a 
heart  averse  from  God,  will  prevent  the  spontaneous  forma- 
tion of  any  abiding  measures  for  the  religious  instruction  of 
mankind,  or  even,  for  the  preservation  of  that  system  which 
God  has  established.  The  tide  of  worldliness,  unobstructed, 
would  roll  over  the  sabbath  day,  and  extinguish  the  fire  upon 
the  altar  of  God.  To  churches  therefore,  is  committed  the 
work  of  preserving  the  sabbath,  and  of  perpetuating  the 
worship  of  God  ; — not  by  physical  power,  but  by  that  moral 
influence,  which  the  word  and  institutions  of  heaven  sustained 
by  the  church,  exert  upon  the  consciences  of  men,  and  upon 
the  laws  and  habits  of  civil  society. 

Another  design  of  heaven  in  the  organization  of  local 
churches,  is,  by  means  of  an  efficient  system  of  religious 
instruction,  to  secure  the  continued  existence  of  these  reli- 
gious corporations  themselves,  for  the  benefit  of  the  rising 
generation.     If  the  God  of  mercy  intended  the  salvation  of 


186 

but  one  generation  of  men,  no  prospective  arrangements  for 
llie  salvation  of  succeeding  generations  would  be  needed  ; 
but,  as  the  work  of  redemption  is  to  be  continued,  the  appro- 
priate means  must  be  "iransmitted.  The  pious  of  one  genera- 
tion pass  off  the  stage  in  about  thirty  years.  In  that  short 
period,  were  no  precautionary  measures  employed  to  pre- 
vent, the  cause  of  God  might  become  extinct.  The  church 
however  will  live  ;  the  gates  of  death  will  not  prevail :  but 
it  will  be  continued  as  seed  time  and  harvest  are  continued, 
by  enterprise,  appropriate  for  that  purpose.  This  enterprise 
is  to  be  directed,  especially,  to  the  education  of  the  children 
of  the  church,  and  of  such  others  as  are  voluntarily  com- 
mitted to  her  care.  To  every  church  is  committed  the  su- 
perintendence of  that  education  of  children,  upon  which  her 
continued  existence  depends.  As  fellow  workers  with  God, 
the  members  of  every  local  church  are  bound  to  raise  up 
another  generation  of  believers  to  serve  him  when  they  are 
dead  ;  and  no  church  has  answered  the  end  of  her  existence, 
which  does  not  accomplish  this. 

But  to  uphold  the  worship  of  God,  and  to  lead  in  the  great 
work  of  religious  education,  professional  instructers  are  re- 
quired, qualified  by  their  piety  and  knowledge,  and  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  their  work.  In  secular  concerns,  the  demand  of 
any  article  in  the  market  will  produce  a  supply  ;  but  it  is  not  so, 
in  relation  to  competent  instructers  in  religion.  If  none  were 
intrusted  with  the  work  of  rearing  up  ministers  for  the  sanc- 
tuary, and  no  forethought  were  exercised,  and  no  system- 
atized exertion  brought  into  steady  operation  ;  the  wastes  of 
death  and  the  demands  of  an  accumulating  population  could 
not  be  supplied  ;  churches  would  mourn  the  bereavement  of 
pastors  without  a  prospect  of  having  their  loss  repaired,  and 
the  regions  of  the  shadow  of  death  would  every  year  become 
more  extended,  dark  and  hopeless.  The  public  instruction, 
by  means  of  which  the  church  of  God  has  hitherto  been 
continued,  has  not  been  the  result  of  a  common  course  of 
nature  ;  but  rather,  of  the  deliberate  prospective  labors  of  the 


187 

church  herself,  for  that  end.  The  Jewish  church  supported 
one  tribe  out  of  twelve,  which  was  consecrated  to  the  purposes 
of  her  religion,  and  in  this  tribe  maintained  her  schools  of  the 
prophets.  The  primitive  churches  regarded  it  as  a  primary 
object  of  their  organization,  to  thrust  laborers  into  the  vine- 
yard, and  as  soon  as  they  obtained  a  settled  rest,  reared  in- 
stitutions for  the  education  of  pious  youth  for  the  ministry. 
All  the  seminaries  of  modern  Europe,  were  founded  with  a 
primary  reference  to  the  preparation  of  men  for  the  ministry. 
And,  scarcely  had  the  Fathers  of  New  England  escaped  the 
edge  of  the  sword,  in  this  new  world,  before,  anticipating  the 
wants  of  future  ages,  they  laid  the  foundations  of  literary 
ingtitutions,  to  provide  pastors  for  the  church  of  God.  Every 
college  in  New  England,  and  nearly  every  one  in  the  United 
States,  was  founded  in  anticipation  of  the  future  wants  of  the 
church,  and  with  a  view  to  supply  them,  by  rearing  up  quali- 
fied instructers.  To  local  churches  is  committed  still,  the 
work  of  providing  religious  instructers  for  succeeding  gene- 
rations and  for  the  world.  Every  church  is  an  education 
society,  organized  by  the  God  of  heaven,  expressly  for  the 
purpose  of  providing  an  evangelical  ministry.  It  may  be 
proper  for  churches,  by  formal  resolutions,  to  recognize  neg- 
lected obligation  ;  but  it  does  not  depend  on  the  vote  of  a 
church,  whether  it  shall  be  her  duty  or  not  to  co-operate 
with  other  churches,  in  providing  an  able  ministry  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  and  the  conversion  of  the  world. 
God  has  made  it  her  duty  ;  and  the  vows  of  God  are  in  this 
respect  upon  every  church. 

But  the  whole  earth  is  destined  to  experience  the  illumi- 
nation of  the  Gospel.  The  means  to  be  employed  for  this 
purpose,  are  the  translation  and  dissemination  of  the  Bible, 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  the  planting  of  churches,  and 
the  establishment  of  schools  among  the  heathen. — The  work 
is  great,  and,  whhout  the  guidance  and  energy  of  permanently 
organized  bodies,  cannot  be  done  ;  but  it  is  in  the  hands  of 
permanently   organized   bodies — God    has    committed    it    to 


188 

local  churches,  who  are  missionary  societies,  to  be  con- 
tinued from  age  to  age,  to  urge  on  the  work  of  evangelizing 
the  world.  The  primitive  churches  understood  the  duties  of 
their  calling,  in  accordance  with  our  views  of  the  subject;  and 
did,  through  every  vicissitude  of  poverty  and  distress,  make 
vigorous  exertions  to  propagate  the  Gospel.  The  Protestant 
churches,  environed  by  the  papists,  and  in  strenuous  conflict 
for  existence,  could  have  but  Uttle  time  or  strength  for  a 
more  distant  warfare.  Awaking  also  in  a  world  without 
form  and  void,  they  had  enough  to  do  to  reduce  the  chaos  to 
order,  and  to  fill  the  space  with  Bibles,  and  pastors,  expo- 
sitions, and  sermons.  They  made  exertions  at  home,  un- 
paralleled since  the  apostolic  age.  But  even  they,  unHer 
the  patronage  of  the  High  Admiral  of  France,  sent  five  ships 
to  the  Brazils  with  missionaries  and  supplies  to  establish 
in  South  America  the  Protestant  religion.  The  enterprise 
failed  ;  but  they  evinced  their  sense  of  obligation,  and  have 
doubtless  reaped  in  heaven  their  reward.  It  is  only  to  be 
added,  that  churches  of  all  denominations  at  this  day  are  be- 
ginning to  perceive  their  duty,  and  to  place  themselves  in  a 
posture  of  readiness  to  perform  it. 

The  requisite  qualifications  for  membership  in  a  church  of 
Christ,  the  next  subject  of  consideration,  are  personal  holi- 
ness in  the  sight  of  God,  and  a  credible  profession  of  holiness 
before  men. 

This  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  design  of  the  church.  Is 
the  church  organized  to  consummate  the  work  of  righteous- 
ness in  the  hearts  of  believers,  to  maintain  the  purity,  and 
secure  the  perpetuity  of  truth,  to  rescue  the  sabbath  from 
profanation,  and  the  worship  of  God  from  extinction,  to 
guarantee  her  own  continued  existence  by  an  efficient  system 
of  religious  education,  and  to  bless  future  ages  by  providing 
pastors,  and  missionaries,  and  Bibles,  till  the  earth  is  full  of 
the  knowledge  of  God  ^  Can  there  be  any  doubt  to  what 
description  of  persons  this  work  has  been  committed  ?     The 


189 

Scriptures  recognize  but  two  classes  of  men,  distinguished  by 
the  state  of  their  hearts  with  respect  to  God,  his  law,  and 
Gospel,  and  providential  government ;  the  one  denominated 
the  friends  of  God,  the  other  alienated  from  him ;  the  one 
holy,  the  other  unholy ;  the  one  righteous,  the  other  wicked. 
All  men  are  included  under  one  or  the  other  of  these  oppos- 
ing terms.  There  is  no  middle  ground  known  in  the  Bible. 
No  third  party,  neither  friends  nor  enemies  of  God,  neither 
holy  nor  unholy,  have  ever  been  recognized  on  the  sacred 
page. 

It  is  to  the  friends  of  God  then,  doubtless,  and  not  to  ahen- 
ated  subjects,  that  he  has  committed  the  preservation  and 
propagation  of  his  truth  and  worship  ;  and  credible  evidence 
of  holiness,  must  doubtless  be  the  condition  of  admission  to 
visible  membership.  If  there  could  be  any  doubt  on  the 
subject,  the  recorded  history  of  this  sacred  institution  would 
put  an  end  to  it.  In  the  first  age  of  the  world,  we  find  Cain 
and  his  offering  rejected,  and  Abel,  offering  to  God  by  faith, 
an  acce^able  sacrifice.  We  find  the  "  sons  of  God,"  a 
name  through  the  Scriptures  appropriated  to  those  who  made 
a  credible  profession  of  religion,  existing  as  a  community  dis- 
tinct from  the  children  of  men,  and  forming  at  length  crimi- 
nal alliances  of  marriage  with  their  daughters  ;  by  means  of 
which  the  power  of  the  church  as  a  religious  community  was 
destroyed,  and  the  earth  was  filled  with  violence,  which 
brought  down  the  exterminating  flood. 

When  the  church,  in  prospect  of  this  judgment,  was  to  be 
preserved,  borne  on  the  bosom  of  that  deep,  which  swept 
away  the  ungodly,  to  whom  was  the  work  of  preservation 
committed  ^  It  was  committed  to  Noah,  whom  God  had 
seen  righteous  before  him,  in  that  wicked  generation. — 
When  the  darkness  of  idolatry  had  again  spread  itself  over 
the  earth,  and  the  foundations  of  a  new  dispensation  were  to 
be  laid,  to  whom  was  that  great  work  committed  f  To 
Abraham,  who  received  circumcision  as  a  seal  of  the  right- 
eousness of  the  faith,  which  he  had  before  he  was  circumcised  ; 


190 

and  of  whom  it  was  testified  by  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  "  I 
know  him,  that  he  will  command  his  children  and  his  house- 
hold after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord." 
To  Isaac  was  committed  the  same  charge,  while  Ishmael, 
who  mocked,  was  cast  out.  To  Jacob  in  succession  it  de- 
scended, while  Esau,  the  profane,  despising  and  alienating 
the  patriarchal  priesthood,  was  rejected. 

When  the  patriarchal  form  of  the  church  was  succeeded 
by  the  Jewish,  the  qualification  of  j^ersonal  holiness  was  still 
demanded.  The  profession,  whi.ch  the  members  of  that 
church  were  required  to  make,  is  a  profession  of  true  re- 
ligion. "  And  now,  Israel,  what  doth  the  Lord  thy  God  re- 
quire of  thee,  but  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  walk  in  all  his 
ways,  and  to  love  him,  and  to  serve  the  Lord  thy  God,  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all^thy  soul."  Can  this  be  done  with- 
out holiness  ? 

The  profession  which  the  Jewish  church  actually  did 
make,  is  a  profession  of  true  religion.  Moses  is  directed  by 
the  Most  High  to  say  unto  the  people ;  "  If  ye  will  obey  my 
voice  indeed,  and  keep  my  covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a 
peculiar  treasure  unto  me,  above  all  people."  And  when 
Moses  proposed  the  above  terms  of  divine  favor,  all  the 
people  answered  together  and  said ;  "  All  that  the  Lord 
hath  spoken  we  will  do."  In  reference  to  a  renewal  of  their 
covenant  with  God,  Moses  says  to  the  Jewish  church,  "  Thou 
hast  avouched  the  Lord  this  day  to  be  thy  God — and  the 
Lord  hath  avouched  thee  this  day  to  be  his  peculiar  people." 
If  this  is  not  a  profession  of  true  religion,  language  is  inade- 
quate to  the  making  of  such  a  profession.  In  the  time  of 
Asa,  the  church  again  covenanted,  to  seek  the  Lord  God  of 
their  fathers,  with  all  their  heart,  and  with  all  their  soul. 
"  And  all  Judah  rejoiced  at  the  oath :  for  they  had  sworn 
with  all  their  heart,  and  sought  him  with  their  whole  desire ; 
and  he  was  found  of  them." 

Whenever  by  their  overt  transgression,  or  neglect  of  duty, 
the  credibility  of  their  profession  was  destroyed  ;  they  were 


191 

reproved  and  denounced  as  hypocrites,  "  Unlo  the  wicked 
God  saith,  What  hast  thou  to  do  to  declare  my  statutes,  or 
that  thou  shouldest  take  my  covenant  into  thy  mouth." 
Their  attendance  upon  the  instituted  worship  of  God  is  de- 
nounced also,  as  an  abomination ;  while  the  immoralities  of 
their  conduct  demonstrated  the  insincerity  of  their  profession. 

The  continuance  of  formal  worship  without  piety,  is  threat- 
ened with  the  most  terrible  punishment.  "  Wherefore  the 
Lord  said,  Forasmuch  as  this  people  draw  near  me  with 
their  mouth,  and  with  their  lips  do  honor  me,  but  have  re- 
moved their  heart  far  from  me,  and  their  fear  toward  me  is 
taught  by  the  precept  of  men  ;  therefore,  behold,  I  will  pro- 
ceed to  do  a  marvellous  work  among  this  people,  even  a 
marvellous  work  and  a  wonder  :  for  the  wisdom  of  their  wise 
men  shall  perish,  andlhe  understanding  of  their  prudent  men 
shall  be  hid."  If  the  Jews,  as  a  community,  were  not  re- 
quired to  profess,  and  in  their  covenant  with  God,  did  not 
profess  true  religion ;  how  could  drawing  near  with  the  mouth 
only,  be  considered  as  a  crime  ?  When  the  members  of  this 
church  are  recalled  from  their  backsliding  by  the  prophets, 
they  are  directed  to  return  in  the  exercise  of  holy  affections. 
"  If  thou  wilt  return,  O  Israel,  return  unto  me  :  and  thou  shalt 
swear,  The  Lord  liveth,  in  truth.  Circumcise  yourselves  to 
tlie  Lord,  and  take  away  the  foreskins  of  your  heart,  ye  men 
of  Judah  ;  lest  my  fury  come  forth  like  fire,  and  burn  that 
none  can  quench  it." 

Whenever  an  individual,  family,  or  tribe,  demonstrated  by 
obstinate  disobedience,  their  irreligion  ;  they  were  to  be  ex- 
communicated. On  this  ground,  the  generation  that  left 
Egypt,  was  excluded  from  Canaan.  "  They  could  not 
enter  in  because  of  unbelief."  When  the  members  of  this 
same  church  had,  by  crucifying  the  Lord  of  glory,  filled  up 
the  measure  of  their  sin,  they  were  broken  off  by  unbelief ; 
and  those  who  succeeded  them  in  the  same  church,  both 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  stood  by  faith.  Hence,  when  John  the 
Baptist,  in  anticipation  of  the  excision  of  the  great  body  of 


192 

the  Jews  from  visible  membership,  came  to.  prepare  the  way 
of  the  Lord  before  him  ;  that  preparation  consisted  in 
forming  subjects  for  the  continuance  of  the  church,  under 
her  ev.angehcal  form.  But  what  was  the  required  prepa- 
ration ?  It  was  repentance,  and  fruits  meet  for  repentance. 
When  our  Saviour  himself,  opened  his  ministry  ;  he  promul- 
gated the  same  terms  of  discipleship.  "  From  that  time 
Jesus  began  to  preach,  and  to  say.  Repent,  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  at  hand." 

The  commission,  given  by  our  Saviour  to  his  apostles,  at 
his  ascension,  directs  them  first  to  make  disciples,  and  then 
to  baptize  them,  inculcating  universal  obedience.  The  quali- 
fications for  discipleship,  Jesus  had  before  disclosed.  They 
were,  love  to  Christ  above  father  or  mother;  daily  self- 
denial;  real  religion.  The  apostles,  then,  were  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  and  by  the  blessing  of  God  to  make  disciples, 
who,  as  such,  were  to  become  visible  members  of  the  church 
of  Christ.  In  this  manner,  the  apostles  understood  their  com- 
mission, and  practised  upon  it.  When,  under  their  preaching, 
men  were  pricked  in  heart  and  demanded,  "  what  must  we 
do  to  be  saved  .^"  the  answer  given  was,  "  repent  and  be 
baptized  ;"  "  believe,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  All  the 
instances  of  adult  baptism,  and  of  admission  to  the  church, 
recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  proceed  upon  the 
ground  of  a  credible  profession  of  religion.  Accordingly, 
individual  professors,  and  churches  collectively,  are  denomi- 
nated by  a  variety  of  epithets  applicable  only  to  persons  of 
real  piety  ;  and  applied  to  them  with  propriety,  only  upon 
the  supposition  that  they  professed  real  religion.  They  are 
addressed  as  "  beloved  of  God  ;"  "  saints,  whose  faith  is 
spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world  ;"  "  full  of  goodness  ;" 
"  the  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus  ;"  "  children  of  the  promise  ;" 
"  those  in  whom  God  has  begun  a  good  work  which  he  will 
carry  on  ;"  "  faithful  brethren,  who  love  all  saints  ;"  "  whose 
hope  is  laid  up  in  heaven  ;"  "  the  elect  of  God  ;"  "  begotten 
with  the  word  of  truth  ;"  "  the  sanctified  of  God  the  Father, 


193 

and  preserved  in  Jesus  Christ  and  called."  Whenever  in- 
stances of  immorality  or  apostacy  occurred,  by  which  the 
credibility  of  their  profession  was  destroyed,  they  were  dealt 
with  first,  as  fallen  brethren,  but  if  incorrigible,  they  were 
excommunicated  as  deceivers. 

The  obligations  of  brotherly  love,  originate  in  the  supposed 
existence  of  the  temper  of  Christ,  in  the  hearts  of  his  profes- 
sed people.  They  are  required  to  love  one  another  as 
Christians,  with  a  pure  heart  fervently  ;  for  which  love  there 
could  be  no  foundation,  but  upon  the  supposition  of  a  credi- 
ble profession  of  real  religion. 

The  nature  of  the  sacraments,  evince  also  clearly,  the 
qualifications  required  of  those  who  are  to  partake  of  them. 
The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper,  is  not  merely  a  memo- 
rial of  an  absent  friend  and  benefactor ;  but  the  token  of  a 
covenant,  in  which  we  avouch  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  be  our 
God  ;  and  which  is  renewed  and  sealed  as  often  as  we  sit 
down  at  his  table.  But  who  can  with  propriety  seal  a 
covenant,  which  he  has  never  made  ?  and  who,  without 
holiness,  can  truly  avouch  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  be  his  God  ? 
It  would  be  to  swear  falsely — It  would  be  lying  unto  God, 
over  the  broken  body  and  flowing  blood  of  the  Saviour. 

The  sacrament  of  baptism,  as  applied  to  infants,  has  the 
same  reference  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  church  by  securing 
fidelity  in  the  religious  education  of  children,  that  the  Lord's 
supper  has,  to  the  continuance  and  consummation  of  holiness, 
in  the  hearts  of  believers.  The  parent,  and  the  whole 
church,  at  the  baptism  of  an  infant,  renew  respectively  their 
covenant  with  God,  to  be  faithful  in  the  work  of  religious 
education.  The  parent  devotes  himself  anew  to  God  in  this 
work,  and  dedicates  his  child  to  God  :  and  the  token  of  his 
covenant  whh  God  is  apphed  to  the  child,  as  a  memento  to 
the  parent  that  the  child  is  depraved,  and  must  be  washed  in 
the  blood  of  Christ ;  is  devoted  to  God,  and  must  be  trained 
up  in  his  nurture  and  admonition.  It  is  successively  applied 
to   each   child,   because  each  is   a  sinner  ;  because,   as   the 


194 

charge  increases,  the  duty  of  education  hecomes  more  im- 
portant, and  difficult ;  and  because,  parental  worldliness  and 
sloth  demand  reiterated  admonition.  By  every  baptism, 
also,  all  the  families  of  the  church  who  are  engaged  in  the 
same  work  of  religious  education,  are  admonished  of  their 
duty,  and  of  the  vows  of  God  that  are  upon  them  ;  while  to 
the  church  collectively,  which  is  pledged  to  watch  over  the 
families  of  the  faithful  associated  in  her  communion,  it  is  an 
ordinance  of  frequent  and  perpetual  recurrence,  to  keep  awake 
the  eye  of  inspection,  and  to  fortify  with  ceaseless  vigor,  the 
heart  devoted  to  God  in  this  great  work  :  while  as  an  index  it 
points,  with  constant  repetition,  to  the  dear  objects  of  her  care. 
But  how  can  those  who  give  not  themselves  to  God,  give  up 
tlieir  children  ?  or  how  can  those,  who  do  not  perform  them- 
selves the  duties  of  religion,  engage  to  command  their  household 
after  them,  to  fear  the  Lord  and  keep  his  commandments. 

Finally,  the  discriminations  of  the  last  day,  decide  what 
are  the  qualifications  for  membership  in  the  church  of  God. 
The  family  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  are  one  :  and  all  in  the 
church  below,  who  possess,  in  the  sight  of  God,  the  qualifi- 
cations which  he  has  required,  will  be  openly  acknowledged 
and  accepted  in  the  day  of  judgment.  But,  in  the  day  of 
judgment,  the  righteous  only  are  accepted  of  God  ;  and  the 
wicked  are  turned  into  hell.  Then  will  he  root  up  in  his 
field  every  plant,  which  himself  did  not  plant  there.  Then 
will  he  separate  the  tares  from  the  wheat.  Then,  with  fan 
in  his  hand,  will  he  thoroughly  purge  his  floor.  Then  will 
he  send  forth  his  angels,  and  gather  out  of  his  kingdom 
whatsoever  offends. — Then  will  he  say  to  them  on  his  left 
hand,  Depart,  ye  cursed,  and  they  shall  go  away  into  ever- 
lasting punishment,  but  the  righteous  into  hfe  eternal. 

The  positions  illustrated  in  this  discourse,  justify,  it  is  be- 
lieved, the  following  inferences. 

1.  It  is  the  policy  and  duty  of  civil  governments,  to  favor 
the  exertions  of  churches  for  the  support  of  religious  insti- 


195 

tutions.  It  does  not  appertain  to  them  to.  impose  creeds,  or 
to  prescribe  ceremonies  of  worship,  or  to  inflict  civil  penal- 
ties for  offences,  merely  ecclesiastical.  Nor  is  any  injurious 
preference  to  be  given,  to  one  denomination  abova  another. 
To  governments  appertain,  however,  the  selection  and  ap- 
plication of  the  most  effectual  means  of  public  safety  and 
prosperity.  But  it  is  by  the  moral  influence  of  religious  in- 
stitutions only,  that  civil  laws  can  avail,  to  form  the  most 
perfect  state  of  human  society.  Civil  laws  cannot  reach  the 
spring  of  action,  and  prevent  social  evils  that  annoy,  or  coerce 
social  virtues  that  enrich  society  :  and  religion,  by  her  moral 
influence  alone,  cannot  arrest  the  arm  of  violence,  or  punish 
encroachments  upon  life  and  property.  In  free  governments 
also,  where  the  people  legislate  and  administer  by  delegated 
power,  the  laws  cannot  be  executed  beyond  the  sanction  of 
public  opinion,  however  corrupt  that  may  be  :  while  in  des- 
potic governments,  the  laws  will  often  be  made  and  executed 
with  a  severity,  which  renders  it  difficult  to  decide  which  is 
most  dreadful,  the  outrage  of  crime,  or  the  terrific  reaction  of 
law.  It  is  only  the  influence  from  above,  maintained  by  re- 
ligious institutions,  breathing  their  benign  influence  into  sys- 
tems of  legislation,  and  extending  their  all-pervading  efficacy 
through  every  relation  of  social  life,  that  men  are  qualified, 
and  inclined,  to  enjoy  the  blessing  of  a  free,  mild,  efficient 
government.  Unless  lawgivers,  then,  would  hold  their  places 
as  sinecures,  and  abandon  the  people  to  the  evils  which  gov- 
ernments are  instituted  to  prevent,  they  will  be  disposed,  and 
as  men  of  principle,  will  feel  bound  to  promote  the  civil  wel- 
fare of  the  community,  by  giving  to  religious  institutions  every 
practicable  facility  for  exerting  a  vigorous  moral  influence 
upon  the  minds  of  men. 

This  was  the  policy  of  the  fathers  of  New  England  :  and 
explains  the  origin,  nature  and  design,  of  ecclesiastical  so- 
cieties. They  were  formed,  not  to  control  the  churches,  and 
not  to  become  churches  ;  and  much  less  to  destroy  them  : 
but  to  afford  to  the  churches,  with   the  advantage  of  system. 


196 

and  under  the  cognizance  of  law,  an  efficient  co-opera- 
tion. 

This  co-operation  of  ecclesiastical  societies  with  the  church- 
es, in  tha  support  of  religious  institutions,  always  produced  a 
benign  effect.  No  such  state  of  human  society,  civil,  moral, 
literary  and  religious,  has  ever  existed  in  our  world  to  such 
an  extent,  and  for  so  long  a  time,  as  has  been  formed,  and 
continued,  by  these  means,  in  New  England  :  and  whoever 
shakes  the  corner  stone  of  this  system,  will  bring  to  the  dust, 
the  noblest  edifice  ever  reared  by  divine  and  human  co- 
operation ;  and  will  transmit  to  posterity,  evidence  of  pre- 
eminent folly,  and  ceaseless  occasion  of  execration  and 
regret. 

2.  Every  person,  believing  himself  to  be  the  subject  of 
true  religion,  and  able  to  afford  to  others  credible  evidence 
of  the  fact ;  is  bound  to  confess  Christ  before  men,  and  to 
enrol  himself  as  a  member  of  some  visible  church. 

It  is  the  revealed  will  of  God,  that  his  people  should  exist 
in  a  visible  organized  form,  both,  for  the  more  advantageous 
enjoyment  of  personal  privileges,  and  for  their  more  efficient 
co-operation  in  the  preservation  and  extension  of  the  religion 
of  the  Gospel.  Every  behever  needs  the  aid  of  ordinances 
peculiar  to  the  church  ;  and  is  not  at  liberty  to  neglect  the 
means  of  his  own  edification.  He  owes  to  his  Saviour,  the 
influence  of  his  example  ;  and  has  no  right  to  put  his  hght 
under  a  bushel.  He  needs  the  confidence  for  action,  which 
a  profession  of  religion  only  can  inspire ;  and  the  facilities 
and  excitements  to  action,  which  social  enterprise  alone  can 
afford.  The  friends  of  their  country,  when  she  is  invaded, 
may  as  well  refuse  to  enrol  themselves  in  an  army,  and  trust 
to  individual  effort ;  as  the  friends  of  Christ  may  stand  alone 
in  their  conflict  with  principalities  and  powers,  and  spiritual 
wickedness  in  high  places.  The  captain  of  our  salvation  has 
commanded  his  friends  to  associate,  and  act  together  as  the 
Lord's  host.  He  allows  of  no  exception  to  this  general  order. 
He  required  an  open  profession  of  rehgion  when  the  loss  of 


197 

property  and  reputation  were  the  certain  consequences,  and 
death  itself  stared  every  man  in  the  face  who  should  confess 
him  before  men. 

Prevailing  doubts,  concerning  the  reality  of  personal  reli- 
gion, may  occasion  the  delay  of  a  public  profession  for  a  time  ; 
but  he  who  believes  himself  to  be  a  christian,  and  will  not 
assume  the  responsibilities  and  perform  the  duties  connected 
with  a  public  profession,  affords  fearful  evidence  that  he  is 
ashamed  of  Christ,  and  that  Christ  in  the  day  of  judgment 
will  be  ashamed  of  him. 

3.  A  church  of  Christ  cannot  be  constituted,  or  continued, 
without  personal  holiness  in  the  members. 

We  do  not  say  that  every  member  must  be  holy,  but  if 
none  are  pious,  it  cannot  be  a  church  of  Christ.  If  a  small 
number  only  are  pious,  in  alliance  with  an  overwhelming 
majority  by  whom  their  designs  are  overruled,  and  the  end 
of  a  visible  church  defeated,  they  do  not  so  sanctify  the  visi- 
ble community,  as  to  constitute  it  a  church  of  Christ.  In 
such  alliance,  the  pious,  instead  of  acting  as  pioneers  of  the 
cross,  will  be  led  as  captives  in  chains,  to  grace  the  triumphs 
of  error — will  serve  as  a  decoy  of  others  to  the  unhallowed 
community,  and  as  a  quietus  to  the  consciences  of  worldly 
men,  who  will  feel  safe,  as  long  as  pious  people  dare  to  con- 
tinue, and  act  with  them.  The  command  of  Christ  to  indi- 
viduals in  such  circumstances  is,  "  come  out  from  among 
them,  ye  my  people." 

Baptism  in  infancy  does  not  constitute  adult  membership 
in  the  visible  church. 

It  neither  secures,  nor  proves  the  existence  of  personal 
holiness  in  those  who  are  baptized,  when  they  come  to  years 
of  understanding.  And  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  suppose  that 
God  has  required  personal  holiness  as  a  qualification  for 
membership  in  his  church,  and  for  purposes  essential  to  its 
existence,  and  which  unholy  men  never  did,  and  never  will 
accomplish  ;  and  then,  that  he  has  contravened  his  own  ap- 
pointment, and  insured  the  defeat  of  his  own  designs,  by 
26 


198 

admitting  the  unholy  to  membership,  in"  virtue  of  a  rite  ad- 
ministered in  infancy.  The  children  of  the  church,  baptized 
in  infancy,  are  the  objects  of  her  peculiar  care  ;  and  if  in  any 
sense  church  members,  they  are  not  in  any  such  sense  as 
supersedes  the  necessity  of  a  credible  profession  of  rehgion, 
when  they  come  to  years  of  understanding.  If  they  are 
members  of  the  church  at  all,  it  must  be  on  the  ground  of 
membership  in  the  family  of  the  faithful ;  so  that,  when  family 
membership  ceases,  their  connexion  with  the  church  must 
cease  of  course.  I  cannot  but  believe,  however,  that  lan- 
guage more  accurate,  and  less  liable  to  produce  mistake  and 
controversy,  may  be  employed,  than  that  which  denominates 
baptized  children  church  members,  without  intending  in  real- 
ity, what  is  included  in  the  term  as  applied  to  adult  member- 
ship. 

A  regularly  ordained  ministry,  an  orthodox  creed  and  de- 
vout forms  of  worship  cannot  constitute  a  church  of  Christ, 
without  personal  holiness  in  the  members.  Much  less  can 
civil  associations  of  men,  though  formed  for  religious  pur- 
poses. 

The  attempt  which  is  making  to  confound  the  scriptural 
distinction  between  the  regenerate  and  the  unregenerate,  blots 
out  practically,  as  has  long  been  done  in  theory,  the  doctrine 
of  regeneration  by  the  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
To  abolish  the  revealed  terms  of  membership  in  the  church 
of  God,  and  to  form  churches  without  reference  to  doctrinal 
opinion,  or  experimental  religion,  and  only  by  location  within 
parish  limits,  and  by  certain  civil  qualifications,  is  the  most 
pernicious  infidelity  that  was  ever  broached.  It  breaks  the 
spring  of  motion  in  the  centre  of  God's  system  of  good  will 
to  men,  and  stops  the  work  of  salvation. 

The  church,  as  a  collective  body,  is  the  organ  of  God's 
moral  administration, — a  chartered  community,  formed  for 
the  special  purpose  of  giving  efficacy  and  perpetuity  to  the 
revealed  laws  of  the  divine  government.  The  Bible,  without 
churches  to  give  efficacy  to  its  precepts  and  institutions,  will 


199 

no  more  accomplish  the  gracious  purposes  of  heaven,  than 
law  books  will  accomplish  the  ends  of  civil  government,  with- 
out an  organized  administration.  The  concerns  of  agriculture, 
and  commerce,  and  science,  and  the  arts,  may  be  left  to  the 
spontaneous  impulse  of  ambition,  interest,  and  necessity.  But 
not  so  the  concerns  of  religion.  In  a  world  of  revolt  and 
alienation  from  God,  no  spontaneous  care  of  his  cause  is  to 
be  anticipated  5  but  rather,  a  common,  extended,  powerful, 
habitual  opposition.  To  propel  such  a  cause,  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  time,  with  all  its  attendant  self-denials, 
toils,  expenses,  and  sufferings,  against  the  bufFetings  of  such  a 
stream  ;  requires  the  steady,  vigorous  action,  of  a  constantly 
organized  body,  animated  by  a  love  stronger  than  death,  and 
which  many  waters  cannot  quench.  For  this  purpose,  the 
church,  composed  exclusively,  as  far  as  man  can  judge,  of 
the  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  is  organized.  But  this  specific 
character  of  her  members  is  as  indispensable  to  her  chartered 
efficacy,  as  her  organized  existence  itself.  The  administra- 
tion of  civil  government  may  as  well  be  committed  to  the 
known  enemies  of  a  nation,  or  the  command  of  her  armies  to 
officers  in  opposing  hostile  ranks,  as  to  commit  to  the  hands 
of  unholy  men,  the  great  work  for  which  the  church  of  God 
is  instituted.  To  men,  withheld  from  the  appropriate  duties 
of  their  station  by  aversion,  sloth,  business,  or  pleasure,  is 
committed  the  administration  of  the  divine  practical  system, 
for  accomplishing  the  salvation  of  the  world.  Tn  such  hands 
the  work  will  stop.  The  constant  energy  of  love  in  the  heart, 
quickened  daily  by  new  supplies  of  grace,  is  scarcely  ade- 
quate to  the  impulse  required.  In  the  hands  then  of  the 
unholy,  the  work  will  not  be  done  ;  it  will  be  opposed.  The 
faith  delivered  to  the  saints  will  be  contended  against.  The 
sabbath  will  be  encroached  upon,  by  its  unhallowed  defend- 
ers. The  work  of  rearing  pious  youth  for  the  sanctuary, 
will  cease  ;  and  talents,  and  science,  and  taste,  will  constitute 
the  primary  accomplishments  of  the  ministers  of  Christ.  The 
religious  education  of  children  ^will  be  neglected  ;  and  as  to 


200 

the  heathen,  the  virtuous  heathen,  they  will  be  left  to  their 
almost  equal  privileges  with  christians,  to  find  their  way  to 
heaven  without  the  Gospel. 

That  system  of  aggression  which  would  break  down  the 
sacred  inclosures  about  the  church,  and  throw  the  church 
and  the  world  together  into  one  common  field  ;  and  which, 
to  accomplish  its  purpose,  would  bring  into  competition  the 
rights  of  churches  and  of  congregations ;  and,  by  designed 
invidious  excitement,  arouse  and  direct  the  stream  of  popular 
indignation  against  the  church,  is  a  system  of  practical  infi- 
delity, al-med  with  the  principles  of  a  most  efficient  persecu- 
tion. It  is  not  only  robbing  the  church  of  her  chartered 
rights,  but  it  is  making  their  existence  and  exercise  a  crime. 
It  is  rendering  that  piety,  bestowed  upon  her  for  the  salvation 
of  others  as  well  as  for  her  own,  an  occasion  of  contumely. 
It  is  defrauding  her  of  that  confidence  and  affection  of  the 
surrounding  community,  in  which  her  light  has  shined  with 
benign  influence,  and  in  which,  without  this  designed  excite- 
ment of  invidious  feeling,  she  might  expect  to  reap  in  due 
time  the  fruit  of  her  labor. 

All  the  churches  of  our  Lord,  and  all  ecclesiastical  socie- 
ties, and  all  men  who  wish  ivell  to  the  civil,  as  promoted  by 
the  religious  order  of  our  fathers,  have  more  cause  to  fear 
and  to  execrate  such  a  system  of  aggression,  than  all  the  infi- 
del hooks  that  ivere  ever  printed.  And  though  accomplished, 
by  giving  to  ecclesiastical  societies  the  spoils  of  the  church, 
it  is  done  at  the  peril  of  the  existence  of  these  civil  associa- 
tions themselves.  Ecclesiastical  societies  are  the  offspring, 
though  not  the  members  of  the  church.  Where  churches 
exist,  and  are  faithful,  a  moral  influence  is  exerted  on  the 
community,  which  produces  a  voluntary  co-operation  on  the 
part  of  those  who  are  not  pious,  for  the  support  of  divine 
institutions ;  resuhing  in  what  is  termed  the  congregation. 
But,  let  the  church  be  overwhelmed  and  amalgamated  with 
the  world,  or  rather,  let  the  world  itself  without  religion,  be- 
come the  church  ;   and  speedily,  there  will  be  neither  church 


201 

nor  congregation.  The  mainspring  being  broken,  the  system 
will  run  down.  While  the  impulse  of  past  religious  enter- 
prise continues,  and  fashion,  continued  by  the  existence  of 
real  churches,  operates,  and  opposition  to  truth  produces  en- 
ergy, the  splendid  forms  of  religion  may  remain  ;  but  let  the 
power  of  religious  impulse  be  spent,  arrd  the  system  of  de- 
molition be  carried  through  ;  and  the  form  itselfof  the  church 
would  cease,  the  sabbath  would  be  blotted  out,  and  infidelity 
and  profligacy  would  fill  the  land. 

The  ordination  of  pastors,  and  organization  of  churches 
without  reference  to  doctrinal  belief  or  experimental  religion, 
is  also,  a  complete  annihilation  of  the  church, — as  really  a 
blotting  out  of  God's  revealed  practical  system  of  saving  men, 
as  that  revision  of  the  Bible,  which  draws  the  obliterating 
pen  across  the  doctrinal  contents  of  the  whole.  The  one  is 
the  destruction  of  the  book  of  laws,  the  other,  of  the  organ- 
ized system  of  administration  for  giving  them  efficacy  ;  and 
both  together  constitute  the  most  efficient  system  of  infidelity, 
with  which  the  church  of  God  was  ever  assailed.  Every 
church  whose  rights  are  thus  invaded,  while  struggling  for  ex- 
istence among  the  waves,  has  a  claim  upon  the  sympathies, 
the  prayers,  and  the  charities,  if  needed,  of  every  other 
church  in  the  land.  The  stream  which  beats  upon  her,  is 
one,  whose  power  may  be  directed  to  any  point  in  our 
country ;  and  which,  with  relentless  impartiality,  will  over- 
whelm any  church,  of  any  name,  disposed  to  maintain  the 
doctrines  of  the  Bible.  All  the  churches  of  our  land  have 
cause  to  feel  the  assault  which  is  made  upon  their  christian 
liberty,  and  to  stand  together  upon  the  defensive,  in  order  to 
resist  aggression,  and  guarantee  to  each  other  an  inviolable 
integrity.  If  any  church,  through  fear,  shall  be  disposed  to 
temporize,  she  may  obtain  the  enviable  privilege  of  being 
last  destroyed  ;  but  more  probably,  will  be  among  the  first 
to  fall,  as  timidity  and  indecision  seldom  fail  to  tempt  ag- 
gression, and  to  render  resistance  unavaihng. 


202 

4.  Local  churches  have  a  right  to  require  a  confession  of 
faith,  and  a  satisfactory  account  of  christian  experience,  as 
the  condition  of  membership  in  their  communion.  A  belief 
of  the  truth,  attended  by  corresponding  affections  of  heart,  is 
a  part  of  the  evidence  which  is  indispensable  to  constitute  a 
profession  of  religion  credible.  If  then,  churches  have  no 
right  to  interrogate  a  candidate  for  admission  concerning  the 
articles  of  his  belief  and  the  exercises  of  his  heart,  they  are 
deprived  of  the  only  means  of  preserving  the  church  as  a 
society  of  faithful  men  ;  for,  external  actions,  without  any 
reference  to  belief  or  experience,  do  not  furnish  credible  ev- 
idence of  piety.  Besides,  the  object  of  association  in  all 
cases,  is  the  increase  of  strength  for  some  given  purpose  : 
and  substantial  agreement  in  the  main  design,  is,  in  the  na- 
ture of  things,  indispensable  to  the  attainment  of  any  end 
whatever,  by  means  of  association. — The  builders  of  Babel 
were  obliged  to  desist,  for  the  want  of  a  common  medium  of 
ideas,  as  the  means  of  concert  in  action.  But  how  much 
more  had  their  confusion  been  confounded,  had  they,  though 
possessing  a  common  language,  differed  as  to  the  position, 
form,  and  materials  of  their  building.  Association,  in  this 
case,  would  have  been  accumulated  weakness  instead  of 
strength ;  each  arresting  the  other's  hand,  and  pulling  down 
what  the  other  had  built.  The  same  is  true,  and  more  emi- 
nently true,  of  divided  counsels  in  associations  for  moral  and 
religious  purposes.  "  How  can  two  walk  together  except 
they  be  agreed  V  is  a  question,  which  carries  its  answer  upon 
the  face  of  it.  And  a  '  family,  or  city,  or  kingdom,  divided 
against  itself,  is  brought  to  desolation,'  is  an  inspired  decla- 
ration, the  truth  of  which  has  been  confirmed  by  immemorial 
experience.  A  method,  more  infallible  to  defeat  all  efficient 
action  in  behalf  of  religion  in  any  form,  could  not  be  con- 
trived, than,  indiscriminately,  to  constitute  churches  of  hetero- 
geneous and  warring  materials.  Every  church  would  be,  in 
this  case,  another  Babel.  No  building  of  any  form  or  size 
could  go  up, — the  association  would  answer  no  purpose,  but 


203 

that  of  causing  its  members  to  do  nothing.*  As  long  as 
Christians  differ  in  their  views  of  doctrine,  and  discipline,  and 
experimental  religion,  too  widely  to  admit  of  minding  the 
same  things  practically,  they  ought  to  associate  in  churches 
by  themselves ;  that  those  who  agree,  may  by  harmonious 
action,  promote  that  good,  which  a  more  comprehensive  or- 
ganization would  most  assuredly  prevent.  But  it  has  been 
said,  that  God  has  made  it  the  duty  of  men  to  commemorate 
the  death  of  Christ ;  therefore,  a  church  can  have  no  right  to 
prescribe  terms  of  communion  that  would  exclude  many 
well-meaning,  moral  men. — The  church  does  not  prescribe 
the  terms  of  communion.  It  is  God  who  has  prescribed 
them,  and  given  to  the  church  the  charge  of  perpetuating  her 
existence,  and  accomphshing  the  end  of  it,  by  a  succession 
of  qualified  members.  And  though  it  be  the  duty  of  all  men, 
to  be  qualified  to  join  the  church,  it  is  the  duty  of  none  to 
join  it,  till  they  are  qualified  by  becoming  new  creatures  in 
Christ  Jesus  ;  nor  is  it  the  duty  of  any  church' to  receive 
them,  till  they  afford  credible  evidence  of  the  change.  But 
of  the  credibility  of  this  profession,  the  church,  and  not  the 
applicant,  is  the  constituted  judge.  If  ^he  errs  in  her  judg- 
ment of  evidence,  and  excludes  the  qualified,  she  must  answer 
it  to  God.  But  the  abuse  of  a  right  is  no  evidence  of  its 
non-existence. — No  corporation  could  preserve  itself,  and  its 
interests,  upon  the  principle  that  the  applicant,  and  not  the 
chartered  body,  is  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  for  member- 
ship. Would  monied  men  invest  their  capital  in  chartered 
communities,  in  which  the  borrowers,  at  their  own  discretion, 
may  become  a  majority  of  the  board,  and  control  at  pleasure 
the  whole  concern  ^  And  has  God  committed  the  care  of 
the  true  riches,  to  associations  of  pious  men  ;  and  then  given 
to  the  men  of  the  world  the  right  of  membership  at  their  own 
discretion,  and  thus  of  changing  the  character  and  defeating 
the  end  of  the  institution  ^ 

*  But  this,  to  many,  seems  to  be  the  ultimatum  of  utility, — the  only  object  of  min- 
isterial efifort  and  church  fellowship,  being  peace,  peace. 


204 

5.  Local  churches  with  their  pastors,  agreed  in  their  views 
of  doctrine  and  christian  experience,  have  a  right  to  associate 
for  mutual  defence  and  increased  efficiency  in  the  propaga- 
tion of  religion  ;  and  to  agree  upon  standards  of  doctrine, 
and  modes  of  discipline,  in  accordance  with  their  understand- 
ing of  the  Bible. 

No  local  church  can  be  compelled  by  other  churches,  to 
associate.  Each  in  herself,  is  independent  of  any  jurisdic- 
tion from  without,  exercised  against  her  consent.  Still,  it  is 
a  duty  which  every  church  owes  to  herself,  to  other  church- 
es, and  to  God,  to  associate  for  purposes  of  increased  safety 
and  efficiency,  in  answering  the  various  designs  of  her  organ- 
ization. All  the  reasons  which  dictate  the  association  of  in- 
viduals  of  a  given  district,  in  local  churches,  for  local  purpos- 
es ;  dictate  with  equal  clearness,  the  expediency  of  the 
association  of  churches  of  a  more  extended  district,  for  more 
extended  general  purposes.  The  elementary  companies 
which  constitute  an  array,  may  as  wisely  claim  independence, 
and  refuse  to  act  in  any  but  occasional  concert,  mutually  so- 
licited as  the  exigencies  of  war  may  demand  ;  as  for  local 
churches,  in  the  vici^itudes  of  their  warfare,  to  depend  en- 
tirely upon  the  temporary  interpositions  of  churches  unallied, 
but  for  momentary  purposes.  If  the  conduct  of  a  local 
church  affected  none  but  herself,  she  might  with  less  respon- 
sibility stand  alone.  But  her  conduct  exerts,  in  many  re- 
spects, a  powerful  influence,  good  or  bad,  upon  sister  church- 
es :  and  though  she  cannot  be  compelled  to  do  it,  she  is  still 
bound  in  equity  to  consult  them  with  regard  to  such  parts  of 
her  administration,  as  involve  their  interest  as  well  as  her 
own. 

If  any  churches  are  persuaded  that  the  mode  of  organiza- 
tion for  mutual  aid  and  enterprise,  is  revealed,  let  them  obey 
the  dictates  of  conscience  ;  and  if  others  suppose,  that  no 
form  of  alliance  is  prescribed,  let  them  obey  the  dictates  of 
an  enlightened  discretion.  Only  let  the  end  of  association 
and  concentrated  action  be  obtained,  and  it  is  enough. 


205 

That  local  churches  have  a  right  to  submit  their  difficuhies 
to  councils  of  sister  churches  for  advice  and  decision,  is  cer- 
tain from  primitive  example.  The  right  also,  to  agree  be- 
forehand, upon  the  churches  and  pastors  to  whom  the 
reference  of  difficulties  shall  in  all  cases  be  made,  and  to 
bind  themselves  in  mutual  covenant,  that  the  decision  of  such 
standing  councils  shall  be  final,  is  an  essential  attribute  of 
christian  liberty ;  and  every  analogy  of  the  human  character 
dictates  the  superior  efficacy  of  known  stated  tribunals,  for 
the  adjustment  of  ecclesiastical,  as  well  as  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  civil  causes.  The  principles  of  evidence  in  both 
cases  are  the  same.  The  effect  of  harmonious,  or  of  con- 
tinually conflicting  decisions,  would  in  both  cases  be  the 
same.  The  consequences  of  passion  and  prejudice,  trans- 
fused into  a  council,  or  civil  court,  would  be  the  same ;  and 
the  consequences  of  having  civil  or  ecclesiastical  officers 
responsible  for  their  conduct  only  to  a  popular  board,  usually 
under  their  entire  control,  would,  in  both  cases,  secure 
impunity  in  transgression.  The  constitution  of  a  stated 
council,  voluntarily  adopted,  is  no  more  a  giving  up  of  reli- 
gious liberty,  than  the  reference  by  law  of  secular  disputes  to 
a  stated  civil  court  instead  of  a  mutual  arbitration,  is  a  giving 
up  of  civil  rights :  and  it  no  more  constitutes  an  ecclesiastical 
despotism,  lording  it  over  God's  heritage,  than  civil  courts 
constitute  a  civil  despotism,  lording  it  over  states  and  nations. 
The  cry  of  popery,  against  stated  ecclesiastical  councils,  is 
just  as  senseless,  as  the  cry  of  despotism  would  be,  against 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  one  is  a  volun- 
tary civil  compact,  for  general  purposes,  that  independent 
states  could  not  achieve  but  by  union  :  and  the  other  is  a 
voluntary  compact,  for  religious  purposes,  that  independent 
churches  cannot  achieve  but  by  union. 

The  independence  of  the  New  England  churches,  as  as- 
serted by  our  fathers,  did  not,  as  might  easily  be  shown, 
preclude  the  existence  of  a  voluntary  alliance  of  churches, 
for  ecclesiastical  purposes.  It  consisted  in  the  perfect  inde- 
27 


206 

pendence  of  every  church,  as  to  her  articles  of  faith,  or  forms 
of  worship ;  and  gives  no  Hcense  to  thrust  themselves  in  as 
rulers  and  judges  in  her  cases  of  discipline,  without  her  con- 
sent. But  it  did  not  preclude  the  right  of  churches  to  avail 
themselves  of  each  other's  aid,  by  any  form  of  association, 
which  they  might  deem  either  scriptural  or  expedient. 

Notwithstanding  the  torrent  of  invective  poured  out  against 
creeds ;  after  the  most  deliberate  attention  to  the  subject,  I 
have  not  been  able  to  perceive  any  rfetional  ground  of  ob- 
jection against  them.  There  are  in  every  science,  elemen- 
tary principles,  without  the  knowledge  of  which  it  can  never 
be  understood.  The  same  is  true  in  theology  ;  for  the  God 
who  governs  the  natural  world  according  to  stated  laws,  ad- 
ministers the  concerns  of  his  moral  government,  by  the 
operation  of  general  principles.  It  is  fashionable,  I  am  aware, 
to  decry  system  in  theology  ;  but  why  the  Most  High  should 
be  supposed  to  observe  07-der  in  the  government  of  the  natu- 
ral world,  so  as  to  lay  the  foundation  for  demonstration  and 
system  in  philosophy ;  and  at  the  same  time,  be  supposed  to 
govern  his  moral  kingdom  by  laws  obscurely  revealed,  includ- 
ing no  general  principles,  connected  by  no  dependencies, 
and  excluding  the  possibility  of  system  in  theology,  is  an 
enigma  for  those  to  explain  who  choose  to  decry  creeds,  and 
to  speak  contemptuously  of  system  in  theology. 

What  is  the  precise  ground  of  objection  to  creeds  ?  Does 
the  Bible  contain  no  important,  elementary  principles  ?  Are 
these  incapable  of  being  understood  ?  Can  they  by  no 
means  be  exhibited  in  a  brief,  connected  form  ;  or  can  their 
meaning  be  correctly  expressed  in  no  other  language  than  the 
precise  terms  in  which  they  are  revealed ;  or  do  the  Scrip- 
tures prohibit  a  concise  exhibition  of  revealed  truth  ?  How 
then  can  the  Scriptures  be  translated,  or  what  right  have  we 
to  preach  the  Gospel,  or  to  publish  sermons,  or  commenta- 
ries ? — Or  how  can  christians  communicate  to  each  other 
verbally,  their  various  opinions  concerning  the  meaning  of 
revelation  .''     It  is  not  the   object  of  creeds   to   supplant  the 


207 

Bible,  but  to  ascertain,  for  purposes  of  concentrated  effort  in 
the  propagation  of  truth,  how  pastors  and  churches  under- 
stand the  Bible.  If  churches  were  formed  only  to  worship 
an  unknown  God,  or  to  blow  the  trumpet  of  an  uncertain 
sound,  they  would  need  no  confessions  of  faith  ;  however 
they  might  be  pleased  to  adopt,  and  feel  themselves  bound  in 
conscience  to  propagate,  their  articles  of  unbelief.  If  church- 
es had  nothing  to  do  but  to  print  and  distribute  the  received 
version  of  the  Bible,  without  note  or  comment,  they  might 
dispense  with  standards  of  doctrine  :  or  if  men  attached  in- 
variably the  same  ideas  to  the  language  of  the  Bible,  creeds 
would  be  superfluous,  and  the  profession  of  a  general  belief 
in  the  Bible  would  suffice.  But  as  men  differ  indefinitely,  as 
to  the  import  of  Scripture  language  ;  a  profession  of  a  belief 
in  the  Bible,  as  the  means  of  informing  those  who  have  a 
right  to  know,  in  what  particular  sense  the  Bible  is  under- 
stood, has  now  become  an  intelligible  profession  of  no  one 
truth  which  it  contains.  And  to  profess  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  a  phrase  which,  in  the  apostolic 
age,  had  a  known  and  definite  meaning  ;  does  not  now,  when 
different  circumstances  exist,  and  opposite  meanings  are  at- 
tached to  it,  communicate  any  intelligible  profession  of  our 
belief  on  that  point :  and  all  pretension  of  giving  an  account 
of  our  faith,  in  that  manner,  is  an  artifice  for  concealment, 
unworthy  of  honest  men,  and  an  indignity  offered  to  the  un- 
derstandings of  those,  who  desire  to  know  in  what  particular 
manner  we  understand  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible.  If  men 
believe  nothing,  let  them  profess  nothing  ;  and  if  they  intend 
to  do  nothing  to  defend  and  propagate  the  truth,  in  any  form, 
let  them  not  become  members  of  the  church  of  Christ.  But 
if  they  have  adopted  opinions  which  they  believe  to  be  true, 
and  which  they  feel  constrained  to  propagate,  why  should 
they  not  frame  intelligible  symbols  of  their  faith,  as  the  means 
of  securing  harmonious  and  efficient  action  ? 

In  the  nature  of  the  case,  I  have  been  able  to  perceive  no 
adequate  cause  for  the  virulent  invective  employed  against 


208 

creeds  ;  but  when  I  have  compared  the  creeds  of  the  refor- 
mation with  the  Bible,  and  have  perceived  their  general  co- 
incidence with  the  unperverted  dictates  of  revelation,  and 
their  efficacy  in  uniting  the  churches  and  preserving  the  truth, 
I  have  not  been  surprised  at  the  torrent  of  declamation  which 
has  been  poured  forth  against  them  ;  though  I  have  not 
ceased  to  feel  astonishment  at  the  misrepresentations  of  them, 
which  men,  of  veracity  in  other  respects,  have  felt  themselves 
at  liberty  to  make.  An  invading  enemy  is  always  prejudiced 
against  fortified  positions,  and  standing  armies ;  and  would 
much  prefer  an  open  country,  and  an  undisciphned  militia. 
And  if  the  good  natured  people  invaded,  would  consent  to 
adopt  the  same  prejudices,  and  to  act  upon  the  defensive, 
without  concert  or  fortifications,  they  would  much  oblige  the 
enemy  ;  who,  both  before  and  after  their  subjugation,  would 
doubtless  eulogize  them,  as  pre-eminent  in  liberality  and  the 
social  virtues. 

Creeds  and  associated  churches  create  a  rugged  warfare 
to  the  innovator,  and  reward  him  with  slow  gains,  and  stinted 
victories  of  doubtful  continuance.  Who  ever  knew  a  pro- 
fessor of  religion  of  lax  morals,  who  was  not  opposed  to 
evangelical  discipline  ;  or  one  buffetted  for  his  faults,  without 
reformation,  who  did  not  cry  persecution  ;  or  an  attempt 
made  to  unite  churches,  for  the  defence  of  the  Gospel,  which 
did  not  arouse  the  energies,  and  call  forth  the  declamation  of 
those  who  avow  their  opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  the  refor- 
mation. Not  a  movement  can  be  made  on  this  subject,  but 
instantly,  the  Pope  is  at  the  door  ;  the  dungeons  of  the 
inquisition  are  under  our  feet,  and  the  chains,  the  rack,  and 
the  stake,  and  the  fire  are  prepared.  It  is  strange  indeed, 
that  the  friends  of  truth  should  fear  those  associations  of 
churches,  which  the  enemies  of  truth  regard,  above  all  things, 
with  aversion  and  dread.  Strange  that  the  prevalence  of  the 
same  creed,  and  the  same  principles  of  association,  by  means 
of  which  the  power  of  the  Pope  was  broken,  and  half  his 
dominions  wrested  from  him  ;  should  be  regarded  with  terror. 


209 

as  the  sure  means  of  establishing  in  this  land  his  iron  hearted 
despotism.  I  cannot  read  such  declamation,  without  deep 
and  continual  sorrow  of  heart,  that  the  friends  of  truth  should 
be  deceived  and  alarmed  by  it :  while  the  enemy,  laughing 
at  our  credulity,  moves  on  in  firm  phalanx,  to  divide  and  con- 
quer. "  Oh  that  my  head  were  waters,  and  mine  eyes  a 
fountain  of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  day  and  night  for  the 
slain  of  the  daughter  of  my  people." 

7.  Churches  of  different  denominations,  who  regard  each 
other  as  composed,  generally,  of  members  giving  evidence  of 
personal  holiness  ;  though  differing  in  their  forms  of  worship 
and  modes  of  administration,  and  to  some  extent,  in  their 
views  of  doctrine,  are  bound  to  regard  each  other  with  chris- 
tian affection  ;  to  abstain  from  all  acts  of  mutual  aggression  ; 
and  as  early,  and  as  far  as  may  be,  to  mature  a  system  of 
efficient  co-operation,  for  promoting  those  interests  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom  w'hich  are  common  to  them  all. 

The  spirit  of  proselytism,  which  regards  exclusively  the 
interests  of  one  denomination,  and  is  concerned  in  bringing 
to  heaven  men  in  one  way  or  not  at  all,  and  which  disregards 
the  feehngs  and  interests  of  other  churches,  is  a  principle  of 
war.  As  human  nature  is  constituted,  there  can  be  no  peace 
among  the  churches  of  our  Lord  of  different  names,  until  it  is 
frowned  into  non-existence.  Mutual  safety  is  indispensahle 
to  peace  and  harmonious  action,  among  churches  of  different 
denominations.  And  with  trumpet-tongue,  the  providence  of 
God  is  calHng  upon  Christians  of  every  denomination,  to 
cease  from  their  Hmited  views  and  selfish  ends,  and  to  unite 
in  the  conflict  which  is  to  achieve  the  subjugation  of  the 
world  to  Christ.  The  mischiefs  of  this  spirit  have  been 
great,  and  have  been  endured  long  enough,  to  afford  experi- 
mental evidence  of  its  wickedness  and  folly.  From  the  time 
the  reformed  churches  commenced  the  sacramental  contro- 
versy, the  reformation  received  a  check  ;  and  to  this  moment, 
the  lines  in  nations,  cities,  towns  and  villages,  are  drawn  in 
many  instances  between  Papist  and  Protestant,  as  they  were 


210 

drawn  at  the  reformation.  And  now,  for  centuries,  tlie  re- 
sources of  Protestant  churches  have  been  exhausted  in  stand- 
ing still,  from  the  balance  of  each  other's  action  and  reaction. 
While  the  world  have  been  perishing  around  them,  they  have 
been  contending  whether  a  small  remnant  of  men  should  go 
to  heaven  precisely  in  this,  or  some  other  way.  It  is  time  to 
cease  from  this  limited  enterprise.  Jesus  Christ  has  need  of 
our  harmonious  exertion,  and  the  world  has  need  of  it. 
Never  can  the  world  be  emancipated,  till  those  who  love  our 
Lord  and  the  souls  of  men,  are  released  by  voluntary  suffrage 
from  the  diversions,  toils,  and  irritations  of  a  war  establish- 
ment. All  the  men  on  our  various  posts  of  observation,  and 
all  the  soldiers  in  our  armies  of  reserve,  must  be  poured  upon 
the  territories  of  the  enemy,  while  we,  without  fear,  and  un- 
defended, dwell  safely  side  by  side.  Too  long  have  our 
alienations  been  the  scoff  of  infidels,  and  made  us  the  tools  of 
designing  and  ambitious  men  5  and  withdrawn  from  the  cause 
of  Christ,  that  influence  upon  society,  which  it  belongs  to  his 
religion  to  exert,  and  which  kind  feelings  and  harmonious  ac- 
tion would  not  fail  to  produce.  And  may  God  grant  that  this 
generation  pass  not  away,  before  a  delegation  from  all  chris- 
tian denominations  shall  assemble,  to  attend  the  funeral  of 
bigotry  and  heresy  ;  and  to  lay  them  so  deep  in  the  same 
grave,  that  they  shall  not  rise  till  the  trumpet  of  the  archangel 
shall  call  them  to  judgment,  to  answer  for  their  crimes,  and 
to  receive  the  punishment  of  their  deeds. 

7.  Local  churches  are  liable  to  inadequate  views  of  the 
design  and  duties  of  their  organization.  If  the  views  con- 
tained in  this  discourse  are  correct,  more  time  should  be 
devoted  by  the  members  of  local  churches,  to  consultation 
and  social  prayer.  No  secular  interest  so  diversified,  ex- 
tended, important  and  difficult,  depending  on  the  resources 
and  steady  co-operation  of  so  many  individuals  of  different 
age  and  capacity,  could  be  successfully  protected  and  ex- 
tended without  reiterated  consultation.  And  yet  how  difficult, 
how  almost  impossible  it  is,  to  convene  punctually  the   mem- 


211 

bers  of  almost  any  church,  to  attend  to  the  public  concerns  of 
Christ's  kingdom  ;  and  to  implore  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
their  labors.  Could  a  few  hours  on  each  day  of  the  monthly 
concert,  be  employed  better,  than  in  deliberation  and  prayer  ? 
Are  thirty  six  hours  in  a  year  too  much  time  to  be  devoted 
by  every  church  to  the  great  work  of  saving  men,  for  the  pro- 
motion of  which,  churches  were  organized  and  are  still  pre- 
served ? 

It  is  equally  manifest,  that,  in  conducting  the  enterprise  of 
evangelizing  the  world,  the  churches  of  our  Lord  must  revert, 
in  some  degree,  to  primitive  usage,  which  committed  to 
stated  pastors,  the  concerns  of  local  churches,  and  to  evan- 
gelists, the  work  of  propagating  the  Gospel.  We  are  not  to 
expect  the  gift  of  inspiration ;  but  neither  are  we  to  expect 
that  a  work  greater  than  that  which  the  primitive  church  con- 
ducted, will  move  on  to  its  consummation  without  the  agency  of 
an  order  of  men,  wise  and  pious,  exempt  from  pastoral  cares, 
and  devoted  exclusively  to  the  work.  The  resources,  re- 
quired to  evangelize  the  world  within  the  period  assigned  for 
that  event  by  revelation,  cannot  be  committed  to  incidental 
management.  The  number  of  missionaries  to  be  raised  up 
and  supported,  the  stations  to  be  selected,  the  fostering  care 
demanded  to  rear  and  perpetuate  missionary  establishments, 
require  imperiously,  that  the  churches  put  in  requisition  the 
time  and  talents  of  some  of  their  ablest  men.  Stated  pastors 
cannot  do  the  work.  Associations  of  ministers  incidentally 
convened,  cannot  bring  to  it  that  maturity  of  thought,  com- 
prehension of  plan,  unity  of  design,  adaptation  of  means,  and 
constancy  of  application,  which  are  indispensable.  And  were 
it  not,  that  the  exigency  itself  will  produce  the  remedy,  the 
extended  system  of  missions  would  be  crushed  beneath  its 
own  weight,  and  fall  into  irretrievable  confusion  and  dis- 
grace.*    Local  churches,  with  their  pastors,  are  the  primary 

*  The  endowment  of  professorships  in  a  literary  institution  for  purposes  of  science 
or  religion,  is  not  more  demanded,  than  similar  endowments  for  purposes  of  practical 
benekolence  in  conducting  the  work  of  missions:  and  whoever  shall  find  it  in  his 
heart  to  set  an  example  of  such  munificence,  will  establish  a  claim  upon  the  gratitude 
of  the  present  and  future  generations,  not  surpassed  by  any. 


212 

springs  of  that  river  which  is  to  flow  from  the  sanctuary, 
deeper  and  broader,  till  it  becomes  impassable.  But  another 
order  of  men,  devoted  to  the  work,  are  to  search  out  the 
barren  places,  and  to  conduct  and  distribute  the  fertiUzing 
waters  of  this  mighty  river,  until  the  whole  earth  shall  become 
as  the  garden  of  God. 

S.  Local  churches  may  perceive,  in  this  discourse,  the 
infallible  means  of  their  own  preservation  and  prosperity. 

It  is  too  often  said,  that  the  church-universal  will  live,  but 
that  there  is  no  security  that  a  particular  church  will  live. 
But  local  churches  too  may  be  perpetual.  It  is  only  for  a 
church  to  answer  the  end  of  her  organization,  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  truth,  in  the  maintenance  of  God's  worship,  in  the 
religious  education  of  children,  in  the  rearing  up  of  pastors  and 
missionaries,  and  to  lend  a  ready  co-operation  of  charity, 
and  prayer,  for  the  evangelizing  of  the  world,  and  all  the 
promises  of  the  covenant  of  grace  secure  her  continuance. 
The  design  of  God  in  her  formation,  as  long  as  that  design  is 
accomplished,  the  ample  means  provided  with  reference  to 
her  preservation,  the  expressions  of  divine  love  and  paternal 
care,  the  promises  made  to  the  prayer  of  faith,  to  the  main- 
tenance of  sound  doctrine,  to  the  fahhful  education  of  chil- 
dren, to  the  administration  of  gospel  discipline,  and  to 
charitable  exertions  for  the  salvation  of  men,  all  guarantee, 
through  successive  ages,  the  existence  of  the  church  that  so 
walks  in  his  statutes  as  to  answer  in  any  good  degree,  the 
design  of  her  organization.  Practical  fidelity  is  the  condition 
of  perpetuity  ;  and  though  no  promise  guarantees  absolutely, 
that  the  condition  shall  be  fulfilled,  as  absolute  promises  se- 
cure the  obedience  and  perseverance  of  individual  believers, 
and  the  continuance  on  earth  of  a  visible  church  ;  still  the 
condition  is  a  practicable  one,  and  one  which  has  been 
fulfilled  for  ages  by  local  churches,  and  may  be  fulfilled 
forever.  Such,  indeed,  is  the  love  and  patience  of  God 
towards  his  people,  that  instead  of  its  being  an  impossible 
thing    to    secure    the    continuance    of  a    local  church,  it  is 


213 

usually,  only  the  neglect  of  duty  and  contempt  of  admonition 
for  a  long  time,  that  prevails  on  the  Almighty  to  give  her  up. 

This  view  of  the  subject  is  calculated  to  cheer  the  hearts 
of  feeble  churches,  struggling  with  adversity,  and  to  lift  up 
their  hands  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  They  possess  a  charter 
more  valuable  than  worlds,  and  are  under  no  necessity  of 
giving  it  up.  The  powers  of  darkness,  enraged  by  their 
light,  stand  around  the  sacred  territory  with  malignant  im- 
patience, waiting  to  re-occupy  their  possession,  and  spread 
over  it  the  darkness  of  death.  But  let  feeble  churches,  in- 
stead of  doing  nothing  because  they  cannot  do  every  thing, 
do  what  they  can  5  and  the  voice  of  heaven  to  them  is,  "  O 
thou  afflicted,  tossed  with  the  tempest,  and  not  comforted, 
behold  I  will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair  colours,  and  lay  thy 
foundations  with  sapphires — and  all  thy  children  shall  be 
taught  of  the  Lord — and  great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy 
children — and  whosoever  shall  gather  together  against  thee, 
shall  fall  for  thy  sake." 

The  same  view  of  the  subject  may  animate  the  churches 
that  are  strong,  to  continue  and  augment  the  resources  con- 
secrated to  the  work  of  domestic  missions.  Such  labors  of 
love  are  not  an  experiment  of  doubtful  issue,  and  no  work 
of  supererogation  ;  but  the  fulfilment  of  a  relative  duty  upon 
which  God  has  always  smiled,  and  always  will  smile.  Let 
every  church,  that  would  perpetuate  her  own  existence,  and 
secure  the  return  into  her  own  bosom  of  the  munificence  of 
heaven,  put  on,  as  the  elect  of  God,  holy  and  beloved,  bowels 
of  mercies  towards  feeble  churches,  and  open  wide  her  help- 
ing hand.  The  considerations  which  should  unite  the 
churches  of  New  England  in  these  efforts  of  mutual  preser- 
vation, are  most  powerful.  They  are  united  by  a  common 
origin,  a  common  faith,  worship,  and  discipline  ;  and  by  the 
endearing  recollection  of  common  toils,  and  dangers.  They 
have  wept,  and  fasted,  and  prayed  together,  through  scenes 
of  Indian  warfare,  and  European  aggression ;  and  have  re- 
joiced together  in  temporal  deliverances,  and  in  the  greater 
28 


2H 

joy  of  spiritual  harvests  ;  and  now  they  are  called  to  the  en- 
terprise of  sowing  and  reaping  together  the  harvest  of  the 
world.  Shall  one  of  these  hallowed  communities  then,  wax- 
ing poor,  be  suffered  to  expire  ?  Shall  one  of  them,  an 
object  of  lawless  aggression,  be  permitted  to  fall  ? 

My  Dear  Brother, 
I  rejoice  in  your  establishment  as  a  pastor  of  this  respec- 
table church,  in  alUance  with  our  beloved  brother,*  called  to 
devote  himself  to  the  more  extended  concerns  of  the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom.  I  rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  usefulness 
laid  open  before  you,  and  in  the  dawning  light  of  that  bright 
day,  which  is  destined  soon  to  break  upon  the  world.  If  any 
considerations  could  tempt  me  to  regret  the  lapse  of  years, 
and  to  wish  to  tread  again  with  youthfid  foot  the  threshold  of 
the  sanctuary,  it  would  be  to  share  with  you,  and  those  of 
your  age,  in  the  delightful  enterprise  of  propagating  the 
Gospel ;  to  rejoice  with  you  in  the  glorious  victories  of  the 
church,  in  which  you  will  probably  be  a  partaker,  after  many 
of  us,  who  introduce  you  to  this  holy  warfare,  are  laid  in  the 
grave.  The  advice  which  I  have  to  give  you  on  this  occasion, 
will  not  be  miscellaneous,  but  will  be  confined  to  a  single 
point.  As  your  time  is  to  be  devoted  chiefly  to  the  duties  of 
the  pastoral  relation,  devote  yourself  primarily  to  the  vital 
interests  of  your  own  and  other  churches  ;  and  especially  to 
the  work  of  promoting  revivals  of  religion.  Let  the  scorner 
delight  in  his  scorning  ;  but  remember,  thou  man  of  God, 
that  churches  without  vital  religion,  are  but  the  splendid 
sepulchre  of  souls  and  the  gateway  to  hell.  The  existence, 
and  vigor,  and  extension  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  depend  upon 
the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  from  on  high.  Revivals  of  reli- 
gion are  indispensable  to  guard  the  churches  against  that 
voluptuousness,  which  is  the  consequence  of  national  pros- 
perity ;  and  to  prevent  the  idolatry  of  talent,  and  the  fascina- 
tions of  science  ; — to  maintain  that  sound  doctrine  which  the 

*  Rev.  Samuel  Worcester,  D.  D.  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American  Board 

of  Commissioners  for  Foreie^n  Missions. 


215 

unholy  will  not  bear ; — to  maintain  the  power  of  godliness, 
where  the  standards  of  doctrine  are  correct  ;-^to  maintain  an 
efficient  discipline  ; — to  give  efticacy  to  the  system  of  reli- 
gious education  ; — to  provide  pious  and  able  pastors  and 
missionaries ; — to  augment  the  numbei*  of  believers  in  the 
churches ; — to  give  to  religion  its  proper  influence  upon  hu- 
man society  ; — and  to  constitute  one  vigorous  heart  and  soul, 
by  which  the  life  blood  shall  be  propelled  to  the  extremities 
of  the  earth.  They  are  also  indispensable  to  meet  the  reac- 
tion of  that  instinctive  alliance  of  worldly  policy  and  hatred 
of  the  truth,  which,  increasing  discrimination  in  doctrine,  and 
strictness  of  practice,  and  ardor  of  christian  enterprise,  will 
not  fail  to  array  against  the  cause  of  Christ.  There  is  a  point 
of  success,  in  the  progress  of  the  church  to  inherit  the  earth, 
at  which  a  conflict  must  be  sustained  to  determine  whether 
she  shall  advance  in  firm  phalanx  around  the  banner  of  her 
captain  ;  or  turn  her  back  in  a  shameful  discomfiture,  which 
centuries  would  not  be  able  to  retrieve. 

Brother,  despise  not  this  formidable  opposition,  and  sleep 
not  on  your  post.  Be  prepared  for  argument  or  for  action, 
as  the  exigencies  of  the  day  may  demand.  But  remember, 
that  no  adequate  security  for  the  churches  can  be  found,  but 
in  a  revival  of  vital  godliness.  Pjeaching  and  writing  books 
on  the  side  of  error  are  comparatively  nothing,  for  truth  has 
always  laughed  at  the  shaking  of  such  a  spear.  But  a  system 
of  deliberate  action,  emancipated  from  the  restraints  of  con- 
science, and  moving  onward  by  the  impulse  of  passion  to 
accomplish  the  destruction  of  evangelical  churches,  merely 
because  it  can,  is  not  to  be  stopped  in  its  course  by  argument. 
Talents  are  not  to  be  despised,  or  literary  acquisitions  to  be 
neglected ;  but  Leviathan  will  not  be  penetrated  by  such 
missiles,  and  the  darkness  of  his  deep  will  not  be  illuminated 
by  such  light.  One  powerful  revival  of  religion  in  a  great 
city,  will  accomplish  the  overtlirow  of  more  error,  and  the 
propagation  of  more  truth,  in  one  month,  than  ages  devoted 
to  hterary  acquisition  or  logical  discussion. 


216 

These  means  are  not  to  be  neglected.  But  the  champions 
of  the  cross  must  write  ujDon  their  knees,  one  hand  wielding 
the  pen,  and  the  other  lifted  up  in  prayer ;  and  while  they 
write,  the  churches  must  pour  out  before  God,  their  fervent 
and  effectual  supphcations.  Sermons  must  be  written  and 
preached  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit ;  and  the  argument 
of  their  controversy  must  be  set  on  fire  from  heaven,  before 
it  will  enlighten  the  dark  heart,  or  melt  the  heart  of  stone. 

Brother,  be  mighty  in  prayer, — be  mighty  in  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  and  though  weak  in  yourself,  be  strong  in  the  Lord 
and  in  the  power  of  his  might  to  revive  in  the  churches  of 
Christ  that  spirit  of  vital  godliness,  which  will  raise  them  from 
the  dust,  fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an 
army  with  banners.  Thus,  diligent  in  business,  and  fervent 
in  spirit,  consecrate  your  days  ;  and  you  will  contribute  in  a 
most  effectual  manner,  to  fulfil  the  promise  which  gives  to  the 
Son  of  God  the  heathen  for  his  inheritance,  and  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession. 


SERMON  VII. 


THE  FAITH  ONCE  DELIVERED  TO  THE  S.AINTS. 


Jude,  3. 

Beloved,  when  I  gave  all  diligence  to  write  unto  you  of  the  common  salva- 
tion, it  was  needful  for  me  to  write  unto  you,  and  exhort  you  that  ye  should 
earnestly  contend  for  the  faitli  which  was  once  delivered  unto  the  saints. 

By  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  is  to  be  under- 
stood the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  These  were  delivered  to 
the  saints  by  holy  men,  who  spake  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  IThe  saints  to  whom  they  were  delivered, 
were  those  who  constituted  the  church  under  the  old  dispen- 
sation, and  the  new.  The  exhortation  to  contend  for  them 
earnestly,  supposes  that  they  would  be  powerfully  assailed ; 
and  yet,  that  they  might  be  known  and  defended. 

It  is  proposed,  in  this  discourse. 

To  GIVE  AN  EPITOME  OF  WHAT  IS  SUPPOSED  TO  BE 
THE    FAITH    DELIVERED    TO    THE     SAINTS  J-^TO     STATE    THE 

REASONS    FOR    BELIEVING    IT    SUCH  ; AND     TO     POINT     OUT 

THE    MANNER    IN     WHICH     IT    BECOMES     THE    CHURCHES    OF 

OUR  Lord  to  contend  for  it. 


2a« 

The  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints  includes,  it  is  be- 
lieved, among  other  doctrines,  the  following  : — 

That  men  are  free  agents,  in  the  possession  of  such  facul- 
ties, and  placed  in  such  circumstances,  as  render  it  practicable 
for  them  to  do  whatever  God  requires,  reasonable  that  he 
should  require  it,  and  fit  that  he  should  inflict,  hterally,  the 
entire  penalty  of  disobedience.  Such  ability  is  here  intended, 
as  lays  a  perfect*,  foundation  for  government  by  law,  and  for 
rewards  and  punishments  according  to  deeds. 

That  the  divine  law  requires  love  to  God  with  all  the  heart, 
and  impartial  love  for  men  ;  together  with  certain  overt  duties 
to  God  and  men,  by  which  this  love  is  to  be  expressed ;  and 
that  this  law  is  supported  by  the  sanctions  of  eternal  Hfe  and 
eternal  death. 

That  the  ancestors  of  our  race  violated  this  law  ; — that,  in 
some  vv'ay,  as  a  consequence  of  their  apostacy,  all  men,  as 
soon  as  they  become  capable  of  accountable  action,  do,  of 
their  own  accord,  most  freely  and  most  wickedly  withhold  from 
God  the  supreme  love,  and  from  man  the  impartial  love,  which 
the  law  requires,  besides  violating  many  of  its  practical  pre- 
cepts :  and  that  the  obedience  of  the  heart,  which  the  law 
requires,  has  ceased  entirely  from  the  whole  race  of  man. 

That,  according  to  the  principles  of  moral  government, 
obedience,  either  antecedent  or  subsequent  to  transgression, 
cannot  avert  the  penalty  of  law  ;  and  that^asdon,  upon  con- 
dition of  repentance  merely,  would  destroy  the  efficacy  of 
moral  government. 

That  an  atonement  has  been  made  for  sin  by  Jesus  Christ, 
with  reference  to  which,  God  can  maintain  the  influence  of 
his  law  and  forgive  sin,  upon  condition  of  repentance  towards 
God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ : — that  all  men  are 
invited  sincerely,  in  this  way  to  return  to  God,  with  an  assu- 
rance of  pardon  and  eternal  life  if  they  comply. 

That  a  compliance  with  these  conditions  is  practicable,  in 
the  regular  exercise  of  the  powers  and  faculties  given  to  man 
as  an  accountable  creature  ;  and  is  prevented  only  by  the  ex- 


219 

ercise  of  a  voluntary,  criminal  aversion  to  God,  so  inflexibly 
obstinate,  that,  by  motives  merely,  men  are  never  persuaded 
to  repent  and  believe. 

That  God  is  able,  by  his  Spirit,  to  make  to  the  mind  of 
man  such  an  apphcation  of  the  truth,  as  shall  unfailingly  con- 
vince him  of  sin,  render  him  willing  to  obey  the  Gospel,  and 
actually  and  joyfully  obedient. 

That  this  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given  ac- 
cording to  the  supreme  discretion  or  good  pleasure  of  God  ; 
and  yet,  ordinarily,  is  so  inseparably  associated  with  the 
use  of  means  by  the  sinner,  as  to  create  ample  encourage- 
ment to  attend  upon  them,  and  to  render  all  hopes  of  con- 
version, while  neglecting  or  rejecting  the  truth,  or  while  living 
in  open  sin,  eminently  presumptuous. 

That  believers  are  justified  by  the  merits  of  Christ  through 
faith  ;  and  are  received  into  a  covenant  with  God,  which  se- 
cures their  continuance  in  holiness  forever  ; — while  those, 
who  die  ifi  their  sins,  will  continue  to  sin  wilfully,  and  to  be 
ptmished  justly,  forever. 

That  God  exercises  a  providential  government,  which  ex- 
tends to  all  events  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  lay  a  just  founda- 
tion for  resignation  to  his  will  in  afflictions  brought  upon  us 
by  the  wickedness  of  men,  and  for  gratitude  in  the  reception 
of  good  in  all  the  various  modes  of  human  instrumentality  ; — 
that  all  events  shall  illustrate  his  glory,  and  be  made  subser- 
vient to  the  good  of  his  kingdom  ; — and  that  this  government 
is  administered  in  accordance  with  a  purpose  or  plan  known 
and  approved  of  by  him  from  the  beginning. 

Finally,  that  the  God  of  the  universe  has  revealed  himself 
to  us  as  existing  in  three  persons,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  possessing  distinct  and  equal  attributes, 
and,  in  some  unrevealed  manner,  so  united,  as  to  constitute 
one  God. 

These  are  the  doctrines,  which,  it  is  believed,  were  de- 
livered to  the  saints,  and  which  have  been  held,  substantially, 
though  with  some  variety  of  modification,  by  the  true  church 


220 

of  God  in  all  ages.  To  prevent  circumlocution,  I  shall,  in 
this  discourse,  call  them  the  Evangelical  System,  and  for 
the  same  reason,  I  shall  call  the  opposite  doctrines  the 
Liberal  System* 

It  has  been  common  to  support  these  doctrines  by  the  quo- 
tation of  proof  texts.  But  to  these  a  different  exposition  is 
given,  more  reasonable  it  is  said,  and  carrying  with  it  a 
higher  probability  of  truth  ;  which  leads  to  critical  exposition, 
opens  a  wide  field  for  evasion,  and  creates  perplexity  and  in- 
decision. My  design  at  present,  is  to  avail  myself  of  collate- 
ral evidence  only,  with  the  view  of  attempting  to  decide,  in  this 
way,  which  is  the  correct  exposition  of  the  proof  texts,  the 
evangelical,  or  the  liberal  exposhion. 

For  the  sake  of  argument,  I  shall  suppose  the  evidence 
from  exposition  to  be,  on  each  side,  exactly  balanced ;  and 
proceed  to  lay  into  the  scale  of  evangelical  exposition,  those 
arguments  which  seem  to  furnish  evidence  of  its  correctness. 
I  observe,  then, 

1.  That  the  doctrines  of  the  evangelical  system  are  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  most  direct  and  obvious  meaning  of  the 
sacred  text.  By  obvious  meaning,  I  intend  that  which  is 
actually  suggested,  without  note  or  comment,  to  the  minds  of 
honest  and  unlettered  men.  That  the  proof  texts  teach  the 
doctrines  of  the  evangelical  system  in  this  manner,  is  alleged 
by  learned  infidels  as  a  reason  for  rejecting  the  inspiration 
of  the  Bible  ;  by  Unitarian  commentators  and  writers,  as  a 
reason  for  restraining,  modifying,  and  tCirning  aside,  the  text ; 
and  by  critics,  who  translate  or  expound  without  reference 
to  theological  opinions  ;  and  by  the  better  part  of  the  Unita- 
rian German  critics,   after   having   denied   the   inspiration  of 

*  I  choose  to  call  these  doctrines  the  evangelical  system,  not  only  because  I  believe 
them  to  be  the  Gospel ;  but  because  no  man  or  deiioininalion^  has  lield  them  so  ex- 
clusively, as  to  render  it  proper  to  designate  liiem  by  the  name  of  an  individual  or  a 
sect.  It  is  a  select  system,  which  some  of  almost  every  denomination  hold,  and  some 
reject ;  and  which  ought  to  be  characterised  by  some  general  term  indicative  of  the 
system  as  held  in  all  ages,  and  among  all  denominations  of  Christians.  I  call  the 
opposite  doctrines  the  liberal  system,  not  as  admitting  that  these  doctrines,  or  their 
advocates,  possess  any  peculiar  claims  to  liberality,  m  any  just  acceptation  of  the 
term  ;  but  simply,  because  it  is  the  epithet  by  which  its  friends  have  chosen  to  dis- 
tinguish their  religious  opinions. 


221 

the  Bible.*  No  translators  have  been  able  to  maintain  a 
reputation  for  classical  literature,  and  to  sink,  in  a  transla- 
tion, the  obvious  meaning  below,  and  bring  up  the  philo- 
sophical meaning  upon,  the  surface. f  The  editors  of  the 
"  Improved  Version "  have  manifested  as  much  good  will, 
with  as  little  conscience,  in  the  attempt,  as  has  ever  appear- 
ed ;  and  yet  have  been  compelled  to  allow  the  proof  texts,  in 
most  instances,  to  speak  the  offensive  doctrines,  and  to  con- 
tent themselves  with  a  simple  contradiction  of  them  in  notes 
and  comments.  Interpretation  according  to  the  obvious  im- 
port, has  always  resulted  in  the  evangelical  system  ;  while 
expositors  according  to  the  supposed  rational  and  philosophi- 
cal mode  of  exposition,  have  differed  indefinitely.  It  is  not 
the  evangelical,  but  the  liberal  rule  of  interpretation,  which 
has  filled  the  world  with  divers  doctrines,  perplexity  and 
doubt.  All  versions,  and  all  expositions  according  to  the 
obvious  meaning,  of  whatever  country  or  age,  do  substantially 
agree  in  the  evangelical  system ;  and  agree  with  the  under- 
standing of  mankind  at  large  who  read  the  Bible.  The 
Bible  also,  for  the  most  part,  was  written  by  men  who  under- 
stood language  only  according  to  its  obvious  import ; — and 
for  the  use  of  men,  to  whom  it  must  have  been  a  sealed  book 
upon  any  other  principle  of  interpretation.  Add  to  this,  the 
testimony  of  the  Bible  to  its  own  plainness  ;  that  it  can  be 
read  by  him  that  runs,  and  understood  by  the  wayfaring  man 
though  a  fool ; — that  it  is  a  lamp  to  the  path  ; — that  it  fur- 
nishes the  man  of  God  thoroughly  ; — that  it  is  profitable  for 
doctrine  ; — that  it  is  able  to  make  wise  to  salvation  ; — that  it 
creates  obligation  to  know  the  truth,  and  renders  error  inex- 
cusable. Now  if  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  proof  texts  be 
not  the  true  one,  and  if  the  true  meaning  be  one  which  can 
be  seen  only  by  men  of  classical  and  philosophical  vision, 

*  See  Stuart's  Letters,  p.  155. 

t  This  fact  shows  that  these  remarks  are  as  applicable  to  the  orig-inal  text,  as  to  the 
translation  ;  for  surely,  if  the  evangelical  were  not  the  obvious  import  in  the  original, 
nothing  would  be  easier  than  to  give  a  literal  translation  which  should  leave  then™ 
out  of  sight  entirely. 

29 


222 

then  the  common  people  have  no  Bible.  For  the  book  itself 
teaches  them  nothing  ;  and  the  critical  expositions  of  unin- 
spired men  are  not  a  revelation.  The  character  of  God  is 
also  imjDlicated,  as  having  practised  on  his  subjects  a  most 
deplorable  deception  ;  as  having  taught  them  falsehood  in 
their  own  tongue,  and  the  truth  in  an  unknown  tongue  ;  for, 
to  the  common  people,  the  obvious,  is  the  only  meaning  of 
terms.  If,  therefore,  the  truth  is  not  contained  in  the  obvious 
meaning,  it  is  not  revealed  to  them  in  any  form.  Indeed,  if 
the  obvious  be  not  the  true  import,  the  Bible  teaches  them 
falsehood.  And  yet,  with  a  book,  whose  only  intelligible 
meaning  on  the  subject  of  doctrines  is  false,  and  whose  real 
import  is  necessarily  unknown,  the  common  people  are  re- 
quired, upon  pain  of  his  eternal  displeasure,  to  abhor  error, 
and  to  love  and  obey  the  truth.  Was  the  glorious  God  ever 
more  scandalized  than  by  such  an  imputation  ?  We  have 
heard  of  his  having  made  a  great  part  of  mankind  on  purpose 
to  damn  them,  and  of  his  sending  to  hell  infants  and  helpless 
victims,  for  the  non-performance  of  impossibilities  :  and,  if 
such  were  indeed  his  character  and  conduct,  I  know  not  what 
other  Bible  we  could  expect,  than  one  impossible  to  be  un- 
derstood, and  framed  to  deceive.  But,  on  this  subject,  we 
adopt  the  language  of  a  distinguished  advocate  of  the  liberal 
system.  "  It  is  impossible  that  a  teacher  of  infinite  wisdom 
should  expose  those,  whom  he  would  teach,  to  infinite  error. 
He  will  rather  surpass  all  other  instructors  in  bringing  down 
truth  to  our  apprehension.  A  revelation  is  a  gift  of  light ;  it 
cannot  thicken  and  multiply  our  perplexities."* 

2.  It  is  the  uniform  testimony  of  the  Bible,  that  the  right- 
eous love  the  truth,  and  that  tiie  wicked  are  opposed  to  it. 

If  then,  we  can  decide  who  are  the  wicked  in  the  scrip- 
tural sense,  which  system  they  approve,  "and  which  they 
oppose  ;  we  have  an  inspired  decision  which  is  the  faith  de- 
livered to  the  saints.  But  the  scriptures  have  decided  that 
the  irrehgious  and  profane,   and    all    persons  of  confirmed 

*  Channing's  Sermon,  second  Baltimore  ed.  pp.  12.  13. 


223 

vicious  habits,  are  wicked  men.  They  have  placed  in  tho 
same  class  the  ambitious,  who  love  the  praise  of  men  more 
than  the  praise  of  God  ;  and  the  vohjptuous,  who  love  plea- 
sure more  than  God.  Now  that  some  of  this  description  of 
sinners  are  found  among  the  professed  believers  of  both 
systems,  is  admitted  ;  but  which  system  do  they,  as  a  body, 
prefer,  and  against  which  do  they  manifest  unequivocal  hos- 
tility ?  It  requires  no  proof  but  universal  observation,  to  sup- 
port the  position,  that  the  irreligious,  immoral  and  voluptuous 
part  of  the  community  prefer  the  liberal  system,  and  are  ve- 
hement in  their  opposition  to  the  evangelical  system.*  If 
this  assertion  needs  confirmation,  assemble  the  pleasure-loving 
and  licentious  community  of  the  world  ; — the  patrons  of  balls, 
and  theatres,  and  masquerades,  and.  let  the  doctrines  of  the 
evangelical  system  be  preached  plainly  to  them.  .  Would 
they  be  pleased  with  them  ?  Would  they  endure  them  ? 
Do  this  class  of  the  community,  any  where  in  the  wide  world, 
where  their  numbers  or  influence  preponderate,  settle  and 
support  an  evangelical  minister  ;  and  if  they  support  the 
preaching  of  any  system  of  doctrines,  is  it  not  substantially 
the  liberal  system  ?  Go  to  the  voluntary  evening  association 
for  conference  and  prayer,  and  which  system  will  you  hear 
breathed  out  in  supplication  ?  Then  go  to  the  voluntary 
evening  association  for  gambling  or  inebriation,  and  which 
system,  with  its  patrons,  will  you  hear  loaded  with  execration 
and  ridicule  f  When  a  division  is  made  in  a  town  or  parish, 
by  the  settlement  of  a  minister  of  liberal  or  evangelical  opin- 
ions, which  side  do  a  majority  of  the  pious  take,  if  there  be 
on  earth   any   such    thing   as    piety  manifested   by  credible 

*  The  reader  will  observe,  that  we  do  not  say,  nor  do  we  believe  it  to  be  true,  that 
all,  or  even  the  majority,  who  professedly  embrace  the  liberal  system  are  wicked  in 
the  sense  explained.  We  know,  and  we  gladly  embrace  the  opportunity  to  acknow- 
ledge, that  there  are  among  them  many,  whose  talents  and  learning,  whose  amiable 
and  generous  dispositions,  and  whose  devotcdness  to  the  public  good,  on  many  ac- 
counts, deserve  our  respect  and  commendation.  There  are,  in  this  class  of  the  com- 
munity, many  whom  we  not  only  respect  and  esteem,  but  whom,  as  connexions  and 
friends  we  tenderly  love.  Our  assertion  is,  that  those  who  are  wicked  in  tho  Scrip- 
ture sense  of  that  term,  do,  as  a  body,  whatever  preaching  they  attend,  and  with 
whatever  denomination  they  are  classed,  dishke  the  doctrines  of  the  evangelical 
faith  tind  prefer  those  of  the  libera]  system. 


224. 

evidence  ;  and  whicli  side  do  the  wicked  take,  if  there  be 
on  earth  any  such  class  of  persons  as  wicked  men — proved 
to  be  such  by  their  deeds  ?  If  a  majority  is  obtained  against 
evangelical  opinions,  was  it  ever  knovi^n  to  be  done  by  the 
most  pious  and  moral  part  of  the  community,  in  opposition  to 
the  suffiages  of  the  most  irreligious  and  flagitious  ?*  There 
is,  then,  some  powerful  cause  of  universal  operation,  which 
arrays  the  irreligious  part  of  the  community  against  the  evan- 
gelical system.  But,  according  to  the  Bible,  of  two  oppos- 
ing systems,  one  of  which  must  be  true,  that  which  the 
wicked  approve  is  false,  and  that  which  they  oppose  and 
hate  is  true ; — "  for  he  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light, 
neither  cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  re- 
proved." 

3.  The  evangelical  system  produces  the  same  effects,  uni- 
versally, as  were  produced  by  the  faith  delivered  to  the 
saints. 

The  maxim,  that  the  same  cause  in  the  same  circumstances, 
will  produce  the  same  effect,  is  as  true  in  the  moral,  as  in  the 

*  It  may  not  be  known  to  all  who  read  this  discourse,  that,  according  to  a  late 
construction  given  to  the  laws  of  Massachusetts,  the  town  or  society  may  dispose  of 
the  funds  which  were  given  to  the  church  ;  and  dismiss  or  settle  a  minister  without 
the  concurrence,  and  in  opposition  to  the  suffrage  of  the  church.  And  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  decision.  Unitarian  ministers  have  often  been  settled  by  towns  and  so- 
cieties in  opposition  to  the  efforts  of  evangelical  churches  :  by  which  means,  the  latter 
have  been  stripped  of  their  funds,  and  exiled  from  their  place  of  worship,  and  sub- 
jected to  the  necessity  of  forming  a  new  society,  and  erecting  another  house  of  wor- 
ship, unless  they  would  consent  to  set  undfer  Unitarian  ministrations,  and  forego  that 
instruction  which  the3'  considered  an  important  means  of  salvation.  Now,  in  every 
one  of  these  instances,  it  is  believed,  that  the  immoral  and  irreligious  part  of  the 
town  or  society,  have  united  with  Unitarians  ;  and  sometimes,  if  not  always,  have 
contributed  to  the  formation  of  a  majority  which  could  not  have  been  obtained  with- 
out them. 

If  it  should  be  said,  that  these  men  united  with  Unitarians  from  a  restless  spirit  of 
opposition  to  religious  institutions  generally,  and  not  with  any  reference  to  doctrinal 
opinions  :  the  answer  is,  that,  when  Unitarians  obtain  the  ascendancy,  the  external 
religious  order  of  the  society  remains  as  it  was,  and  is  supported  by  these  wicked 
men  with  more  ardor  than  before.  Hut  when  the  evangelical  part  of  the  society  with 
the  church  prevails,  and  the  liberal  part  secedes ;  these  same  wicked  men  secede 
with  them  ;  so  that,  wliellier  Unitarians  prevail  or  act  as  a  minority,  the  irreligious 
and  profligate  uniformly  act  with  them  ;  and  never,  in  any  case,  act  with  the  evangel- 
ical party.  The  wicked  then  will  suppoii  religious  order  under  Unitarian  auspices, 
and,  with  Unitarians,  will  abandon  it  under  evangelical  auspices.  Does  this  look 
like  a  mere  restless  opposition  to  religious  order,  wiihout  reference  to  doctrinal  opin- 
ions ?  Are  Unitarians  so  notoriously  and  always  opposed  to  religious  order,  as  to 
attach  the  enemies  of  religious  institutions  uniformly  to  their  part}' ;  or  is  the  evan- 
gelical system  hated  by  wicked  men  because  it  is  the  truth,  and  the  liberal  system 
patronised  by  them,  because  the}',  whose  deeds  are  evil,  ''  love  darkness  rather  than 
light?" 


225  ' 

natural  world  ;  the  laws  of  mind,  and  the  operation  of  moral 
causes,  being  just  as  uniform  as  the  laws  of  matter.  The 
Gospel,  the  greatest  moral  cause  which  ever  operated  in  the 
world,  is  the  same  now  as  in  the  apostolic  age  ;  and  the 
heart  of  man,  civilized  or  uncivilized,  is  also  the  same.  So 
that  this  great  cause  is  operating  now,  in  substantially  the 
same  circumstances  as  it  did  in  the  jirimitive  age  ; — for  the 
heart  of  man  is  the  moral  world,  and  is  the  same  now,  as  in 
the  time  of  the  apostles.  If  there  be  a  system  of  doctrines, 
then,  at  the  present  time,  whose  effects  are  universally  the 
same  with  those  produced  by  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints  ;  that  system,  demonstrably,  is  the  faith  which  was 
once  delivered  to  the  saints.  Identity  of  moral  effect  proves 
identity  of  moral  cause. 

The  illustration  of  the  argument  from  effects,  must  consist 
of  many  particulars,  and  of  matters  of  fact.  The  argument, 
therefore,  can  only  be  stated  concisely,  without  attempting 
to  answer  every  possible  objection.  The  facts,  too,  may  be 
regarded  by  some  as  invidious.  I  have  only  to  say,  that  no 
fact  will  be  stated  as  such,  which  is  not  believed  to  be  no- 
toriously true,  and,  if  denied,  capable  of  unequiv'ocal  proof; 
and  as  to  the  invidious  bearing  of  matters  of  fact,  or  of  ar- 
guments, I  am  persuaded  it  is  both  a  false  delicacy  and  an 
unsound  cause  which  would  shrink  from  this  test,  and  shield 
itself  under  forms  of  alleged  decorum.  But  I  must  be 
allowed  to  believe  also,  that  no  real  decorum  is  violated 
by  the  statement  of  facts,  or  the  pressure  of  arguments, 
where  the  object  is  important,  the  design  honest,  and  the 
manner  sober  and  respectful.  Systems  of  religion,  as  well 
as  of  natural  philosophy,  may  be  brought  to  the  test  of  actual 
experiment.  "  By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them."  But 
if  the  moral  world  were,  by  the  laws  of  decorum,  closed 
against  us,  and  we  might  only  theorise  without,  upon  practi- 
cal tendencies,  and  not  enter  it  to  collect  and  appeal  to  facts ; 
we  might  contend  earnesdy,  but  certainly  should  contend  to 
very  little  purpose.  To  the  word  and  testimony  of  God, 
and  to  matters  of  fact,  we  appeal. 


226 

I  observe  then,  that  the  evangelical  system  occasions  the 
same  objections  now,  which  were  occasioned  by  the  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

Such  an  exhibition  was  given  of  old  of  the  particular 
providence  of  God,  as  occasioned,  on  the  part  of  thieves, 
and  liars,  and  adulterers,  and  idolaters,  the  extenuating  plea, 
"  We  are  delivered  to  do  all  these  abominations."*  God 
governs  the  moral  world  by  such  irresistible  influence,  that 
crimes  are  as  much  a  matter  of  physical  necessity,  as  rain 
and  sunshine.  Do  1  need  to  say  to  this  audience,  that  the 
charge  constantly  urged  against  the  decrees  of  God,  as  an 
article  of  the  evangelical  system,  is,  that  it  destroys  accounta- 
ble agency,  and  makes  men  machines,  and  all  actions  neces- 
sary by  an  irresistible  fatality .''  The  faith  delivered  to  the 
saints  then,  and  the  evangelical  faith,  are  perverted  in  this 
article,  exactly  alike. 

The  ancient  faith  included  an  article,  which  led  the  wicked 
among  the  Jews,  to  extenuate  their  crimes  by  the  allegation, 
"  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's 
teeth  are  set  on  edge ;"-{-  i.  e.  '  Sin  in  man,  is  a  physical 
property  transmitted  from  father  to  son,  as  bones  and  sinews 
are,  and  alike  inconsistent  with  choice  or  blame.'  And  is 
not  the  objection  urged  against  the  doctrine  of  original  sin 
as  contained  in  the  evangelical  sj^stem,  the  same  ^  The 
inspired  answer  to  the  objection  of  old  was.  That  children 
are  accountable  only  for  their  own  voluntary  exercises  and 
deeds ;  and  this  is  the  reply  returned  now  by  the  patrons  of 
the  evangelical  system. 

The  doctrine  of  human  depravity  as  taught  in  the  Bible, 
led  the  people  in  a  time  of  great  wickedness,  to  say,  "  If  our 
transgressions  and  our  sins  be  upon  us,  and  we  pine  away 
in  them,  how  should  we  then  live  .'"'J  i.  e.  '  If  we  be  dead 
in  sin,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  spiritual  life,  how  can  we  be 
free  agents,  and  how  can  we  help  ourselves,  or  be  justly 
blamed  'f     And,  as  if  they  had  been  told  by  the  prophet,  that 

'  Jer.  \ii.  10.  t  Ezek;  xviii.  2.  }  Eztk.  xxxiii.  10. 


227 

their  death  in  sin  was  voluntary  and  criminal,  though  entire, 
and  certain  in  its  efficacy,  they  seem  to  say  ;  '  Well,  if  wo 
are  so  wicked  that  we  certainly  shall  pine  away  in  our  sins, 
how  can  we  be  to  blame  ?  If  we  shall  not  turn  of  our- 
selves, how  can  we  turn  ;  and  of  what  use  is  ability,  that 
will  never  be  exerted  ?'  Now,  are  not  these  precisely  the 
objections  which  are  at  this  day  constantly  alleged  against 
the  doctrines  of  man's  entire  depravity,  and  moral  inability, 
as  articles  of  the  evangelical  system  ? 

Our  Saviour  asserts  the  riccessity  of  some  great  change  to 
qualify  a  man  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  which,  to  a  ruler 
in  Israel,  appeared  mysterious,  and  even  impossible.  And  in 
the  evangelical  system,  is  there  not  a  great  change  insisted 
on,  as  indispensable  to  salvation  ;  to  which  masters  in  Israel 
now,  confess  that  they  are  strangers ;  and  v/hich  they  regard 
as  impossible,  without  the  destruction  of  free  agency  and 
accountability  ?- 

The  manner  of  a  sinner's  justification  was  delivered  to  the 
saints  in  such  terms  as  occasioned  the  objection,  that  it 
made  void  the  law ;  superseding  the  obligations  and  motives 
to  a  moral  life,  and  leading  to  hcentiousness.  "  Do  we  then 
make  void  the  law  through  faith  ?"  "  Shall  we  continue  in 
sin  that  grace  may  abound  ?"  And  is  not  this  precisely  the 
objection  which  has  been  urged  against  the  doctrine  of  justi- 
fication by  faith,  as  contained  in  the  evangelical  system, 
from  the  time  of  the  reformation  to  this  day  ? 

The  saints  were  taught  something  concerning  the  sove- 
reignty of  God,  as  having  mercy  on  whom  he  would,  and 
punishing  whom  he  would  ; — which  produced  the  objection, 
"  Why  then  doth  he  yet  find  fault ;  for  who  hath  resisted  his 
will  ?"  '  If  wicked  men  receive  their  destination  as  God  ap- 
points, why  does  he  blame  them  ?  If  it  be  his  will  that  they 
perish,  and  they  do  perish  ;  are  they  not  obedient ;  and  why 
does  he  find  fault  ?'  And  is  not  this  the  objection  which  is 
urged,  unceasingly,  against  the  doctrine  of  election  as  taught 
in  the  evangelical   system  ?     To   our   reply,  that  the  will  of 


228 

God,  as  a  moral  rul^to  man^  and  the  will  of  God,  as  a  rule 
of  administration  to  himself  in  disposing  of  rebels,  are  dis- 
tinct ;  the  answer  is,  '  Metaphysics  !  metaphysics  !  The  will 
of  God  is  the  will  of  God  ;  and  if  sinners  act,  in  any  sense, 
in  accordance  with  any  will  of  God,  they  are  obedient ;  and 
he  has  no  cause  to  find  fault.'  Now,  did  the  liberal  expo- 
sition of  the  ninth  of  Romans  ever  produce,  in  the  whole 
history  of  man,  the  objection  which  this  chapter  produced  as 
written  by  the  apostle ;  or  do  liberal  preachers  ever  have 
occasion  to  adopt  •  the  reply  of  Paul  to  objections  produ- 
ced by  their  exposition  ?  But  the  evangelical  exposition 
produces,  invariably,  the  same  objection  which  the  apostle 
encountered,  and  this  objection  receives,  invariably,  the  same 
reply.  "  Nay,  but,  O  man,  who  art  thou  that  repliest  against 
God  ?"  '  Shall  a  being  of  yesterday  arraign  the  conduct  of 
his  Maker  ?  Shall  a  rebel  sit  in  judgment  upon  his  God  ? 
Are  not  men  rebels,  justly  doomed  to  die  ;  and,  in  reference 
to  their  character  and  condition  as  condemned  criminals,  all 
clay  of  the  same  lump  ?  And  is  not  the  discretion  of  God 
to  pardon  or  reprieve,  as  absolute,  as  that  of  the  potter  over 
his  clay,  to  make  one  vessel  to  honor  and  another  to  dis- 
honor .^'  Do  you  object,  that  the  punishment  threatened  is 
unjust  ?  But  how  could  God  make  a  vessel  of  mercy  of  one 
whose  punishment  would  be  unjust ;  or  a  vessel  of  wrath  of 
one  whose  punishment  would  be  undeserved  ?  Do  you  call 
men  impotent,  because  they  are  compared  to  clay  ;  or  assert, 
that  the  sovereignty  of  God,  in  saving  some,  causes,  and 
renders  unavoidable,  the  destruction  of  others  ?  We  reply, 
those  who  perish,  perish  for  their  sins,  for  which  they  might 
have  been  justly  punished,  without  an  offer  of  pardon.  They 
might,  if  they  would,  comply  with  the  terms  of  pardon,  and 
are  punished  for  rejecting  them.  Nor  are  they  cut  down  in 
haste.  With  much  longsuffering  they  are  endured,  while, 
by  despising  the  riches  of  the  goodness  of  God  they  Jit  them- 
selves for  destruction.  Such  is  the  evangelical  reply  ;  and 
such,  as  wc  understand  his  language  and  argument,  is  the 
reply  of  Paul. 


229 

It  was  objected  to  the  Gospel,  and  in  the  early  age,  con- 
ceded, that  few  embraced  it  but  the  poor,  and  the  common 
people.  "  To  the  poor  the  Gospel  is  preached."  "  Have 
any  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  believed  on  him  .^"  "  The 
common  people  heard  him  gladly."  "  Not  many  wise  men 
after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble,  are  called." 
Celsus,  in  the  second  century,  exulted  in  the  fact,  that  so 
few  in  the  higher  classes  of  society  had  professed  Christianity  ; 
and  poured  contempt  upon  the  cause,  as  patronized  only  by 
mechanics  and  vulgar  people.*  Now,  is  it  not  notorious,  that 
the  liberal  system  of  doctrines,  unpatronized  by  the  civil 
power,  has  never  been  the  religion  of  the  common  people  in 
any  country  ;  but  rather  the  religion  of  men  of  philosophical 
minds  and  literary  habits  .''  i.  e.  the  evangelical  system  has 
been  chiefly  patronized  by  that  class  of  society  which  pat- 
ronized the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  ;  while  the  opposite 
system  has  more  commonly  relied  for  patronage  on  the  arm 
of  government,  and  on  that  class  of  men  in  society  who,  as  a 
body,  rejected  the  Gospel.  A  late  writer  in  this  country,  of 
high  reputation  on  the  Hberal  side,  says,  "  It  is  not  to  be 
doubted,  that,  throughout  our  country,  a  very  large  proportion 
of  those  men,  who,  for  their  talents  and  learning  and  virtues, 
have  the  most  influence  in  the  community,  and  have  it  in 
their  power  to  do  the  most  towards  giving  a  right  direction 
to  the  public  feeling  and  the  public  sentiment,  are  dissatisfied 
with  the  Calvinistic  and  Trinitarian  form  in  which  they  have 
had  rehgion  presented  to  them  ;  but  are  prevented  from  mak- 
ing a  public  avowal  of  their  opinions,  by  an  unwillingness  to 
encounter  opposition  and  obloquy,  and  loss  of  confidence, 
and  the  power  of  being  useful. "f  The  evangelical  system 
in  this  country,  then,  is  extensively,  embraced  by  the   same 

*  Are  there  no  attempts  making  to  create  an  impression  now,  that  the  liberal 
system  is  patronized  peculiarly  by  persons  in  high  life,  by  men  of  taste  and  talents,  of 
wealth  and  refinement ;  and  that  the  opposite  system  is  fast  going  down,  to  be  the 
religion  of  the  common  people  only,  and  of  the  popr  ? 

t  Dr.  Ware's  Letters  to  Trinitarians  and  Calvinists,  pp.  146,  14-7. 

30 


230 

classes  which  embraced  the  Gospel ;  and  is  extensively  dis- 
approved by  that  class  of  men  who  rejected  the  Gospel.* 

The  faith  dehvered  to  the  saints  occasioned  a  virulent 
hatred.  It  was  not  hatred  of  it  as  false,  arising  from  an  ar- 
dent love  of  truth  ;  for  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  could  tole- 
rate each  other,  and  Pagans  could  tolerate  thirty  thousand 
gods,  with  all  their  lust  and  blood.  And  is  not  the  evangehcal 
system  encountered  by  a  virulence  of  opposition,  in  circum- 
stances which  show  that  it  cannot  arise  from  the  love  of  truth 
or  hatred  of  error  ?  None  will  pretend,  that  the  effects  of 
the  evangelical  system  are  as  deplorable,  as  the  effects  of 
idolatry  in  its  present  forms.  The  evangelical  system  has 
produced  no  temple  of  impure  resort;  no  gratifications  of  lust 
enjoined  as  acts  of  worship ;  no  blood  of  human  victims  ;  no 
burning  of  widows,  or  drowning  of  infants  ;  no  self-inflicted 
penal  tortures.  And  yet,  such  is  the  hatred  of  many  to  the 
evangehcal  system,  that  they  oppose,  deliberately,  all  attempts 
to  extend  it  to  the  heathen ;  and  on  the  ground,  avowedly, 
that  they  had  rather  the  heathen  would  remain  as  they  are, 
than  adopt  the  evangelical  system.  In  the  face  of  all  the  ab- 
surdity and  obscenity  and  blood  of  idolatry,  not  a  few  have 
declared,  that  they  would  not  lift  a  finger  to  convert  the  whole 
pagan  world  to  the  evangelical  faith,  or  words  to  that  effect. 
They  speak  kindly  of  Infidels,  Mohammedans,  and  Pagans ; 
and  fiercely  of  all  which  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  evangelical 

*  If,  to  any,  it  should  seem  improbable  that  the  unlearned  and  obscure  should  be 
more  likely  to  have  the  truth  than  men  of  talents  and  learning  ;  we  arc  readv  to  ad- 
mit, that  the  apprehension  would  be  just,  if  the  perception  of  the  truth  depended, 
exclusively,  upon  capacity  and  knowledge.  But  if,  as  the  Bible  declares,  the  truth  is 
so  plain,  that  the  feeble  and  unlearned  are  able  to  perceive  it,  and  its  rejection  is 
caused  chiefly  by  the  state  of  the  heart ;  and  if  talents,  and  learning,  and  wealth,  and 
power,  occasion  self-sufficiency,  and  ambition,  and  love  of  pleasure  ;  with  the  cares  of 
this  world,  diverting  the  attention  from  the  truth,  and  increasing  the  prejudice  of  the 
heart  against  it ;  then  men  in  the  highest  orders  of  society,  are  not  as  likel3'  to  have 
the  truth  as  the  common  jjcople  ;  for  the  heart  governs  the  understanding  ;  and  the 
peculiar  aversion  of  learned  and  worldly  men  to  the  truth,  throws  more  darkness 
upon  it,  than  their  superior  intelligence  serves  to  dispel ;  and  creates  a  greater  im- 
pediment to  the  perception  of  the  truth,  than  is  occasioned  by  any  relative  deficiency 
of  capacity  and  knowledge  among  the  common  people.  The  argument,  however, 
does  not  demand  this  explanation  ;  for  we  do  not  infer  the  truth  of  the  evangelical 
system  from  the  fact,  that,  either  class  is  more  likely  to  have  the  truth  ;  but,  from  the 
fact,  that  the  same  sort  of  men  reject  the  evangelical  system  now,  who  rejected  the 
Gospel  ;  and  the  same  sort  embrace  it  now,  who  embraced  the  Gospel :  furnishing  a 
strong  presumptive  argument,  that  the  evangelical  system  and  the  Gospel  are  the 
same,  because  they  produce  the  same  effects. 


231 

system.  Such  asperity  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  oc- 
casioned, and  such  asperity  the  evangehcal  system  occa- 
sions. 

The  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  produced  a  stricter  moral- 
ity than  any  contemporaneous  system.  Whether  this  be  true 
of  the  evangelical  system,  is  not  to  be  decided  by  a  compari- 
son of  the  best  characters  on  one  side,  with  the  most  defective 
on  the  other ;  or  of  individuals  of  good  moral  character  on 
both  sides,  of  which  it  is  admitted  there  are  many.*  Nor 
can  the  moral  efficacy  of  the  two  systems  be  decided  by  the 
standard  of  public  morality,  where  the  evangelical  system 
has  prevailed  in  the  early  period  of  life,  and  exerted  its  in- 
fluence upon  the  conscience,  and  in  the  formation  of  moral 
habits ;  or  where  it  still  prevails  to  such  an  extent,  as  to  ex- 
ert a  powerful  modifying  influence  ;  and,  especially,  where 
the  opposite  system  is  of  but  recent  public  notoriety,  and  of 
limited  extent.  Great  moral  causes  do  not  produce  their  ef- 
fects immediately  ;  nor,  upon  every  individual,  exactly  the 
same  effect.  Their  tendency  and  efiicacy  is  to  be  looked  for 
in  those  communities,  where  the  influence  of  the  two  sys- 
tems has  been  the  most  unmingled,  and  of  the  longest  dura- 
tion 5  and  also,  in  those  obvious  changes  in  a  community, 
which,  as  one  or  the  other  prevails,  become  apparent.  With 
these  explanations  in  view,  I  remark,  that  the  superior  moral 
efficacy  of  the  evangelical  system  is  a  matter  of  unequivocal 
concession.  In  an  article  on  predestination  in  the  British 
Encyclopedia,  written,  it  is  said,  by  Robert  Forsyth,  Esq.  a 
learned  civilian,  and  an  infidel ;  after  giving  an  account  of 
the  Calvinistic  and  Arminian  system,  and  the  preference  to 
the  latter,  it  is  said,  "  There  is  one  remark  which  we  think 
ourselves  in  justice  bound  to  make.  It  is  this  ;  that,  from 
the  earliest  ages  down  to  our  own  days,  if  we  consider  the 
character  of  the  ancient  Stoics,  the  Jewish  Essenes,  the 
modern  Calvinists  and  Jansenists,  compared  with  that  of  their 

*  We  desire  all  that  is  said  on  this  subject  to  be  understood  with  the  same  explana- 
tion which  we  have  made  on  p.  223. 


232 

antagonists,  the  Epicureans,  the  Sadducees,  the  Arminians 
and  the  Jesuits  ;  we  shall  find  that  they  have  excelled,  in  no 
small  degree,  in  the  practice  of  the  most  rigid  and  respecta- 
ble virtues  ;  and  have  been  the  highest  honor  to  their  own 
age,  and  the  best  models  for  imitation  to  every  succeeding 
age."  This  is  the  testimony  of  a  philosopher,  to  the  differ- 
ent moral  effects  of  the  two  systems,  from  the  time  of  Au- 
gustine; at  least,  to  the  present  day. 

Dr.  Priestley,  who   will  not  be  suspected  of  partiality  for 
the  evangelical  system,  says,  that  those   who  hold  the   evan- 
gelical  doctrines,    "  have    less    apparent  conformity    to  the 
world,  and  seem  to  have  more  of  a  real  principle  of  religion." 
He  says  also,  "  Though  Unitarian   dissenters  are  not  apt  to 
entertain  any  doubt  of  the  truth  of  their  principles,  they  do 
not  lay  so  much  stress  upon  them,  as  other  christians  do  up- 
on theirs.     Nor  indeed  is  there  any  reason  why  they  should, 
when  they  do  not  consider  the  holding  of  them   to  be  at  all 
necessary  to  salvation.     They  therefore,  take  much  less  pains 
to.  make  proselyte*,  and  are  less  concerned  to  inculcate  their 
principles  upon  their  children,  their  servants,  and  their  de- 
pendents in  general.     From  this  principle   it  is,  that  great 
numbers,  becoming  Unitarians  in  the  church  of  England,  and 
even  among  the  clergy,  do  not  feel  the   impropriety  and  ab- 
surdity, to  say  nothing  more  harsh,  of  continuing  to   counte- 
nance a  mode  of  worship,  which,   if  they  were  questioned 
about  it,  they  would  not  deny  to  be,  according  to  their  own 
principles,  idolatrous   and  blasphemous.     Such  persons  also, 
having  no   zeal  for  speculative  religion,  merely  because  they 
have  no  zeal   for  religion  in  general,   their  moral  conduct, 
though  decent,  is  not  what  is  deemed  strict  and  exemplary."* 
In  a  periodical  publication  of  high  literary  character,  but 
of  decided  and  known  partiality  to  infidel  opinions,!  we  find 
the    following    statements.       "  Predestination,    or    doctrines 
much  inclining  towards  it,   have,   on  the  whole,  prevailed  in 
the  christian  churches  of  the  west,  since  the  days  of  Augus- 

*  Discourses  on  various  subjects,  pp.  95,  96.  t  Edinburgh  Review. 


233 

tine  and  Aquinas.  Who  were  the  first  formidable  opponents 
of  these  doctrines  in  the  church  of  Rome  ?  The  Jesuits, — 
the  contrivers  of  courtly  casuistry,  and  the  founders  of  lax 
morality.  Who,  in  the  same  church,  inclined  to  the  stern 
theology  of  Augustine  ?  The  Jansenists, — the  teachers  and 
the  models  of  austere  morals.  What  are  we  to  think  of  the 
morality  of  Calvinistic  nations,  especially  the  most  numerous 
classes  of  them  ;  who  seem,  beyond  all  other  men,  to  be  most 
zealously  attached  to  their  religion,  and  most  deeply  pene- 
trated with  its  spirit  ?  Here,  if  any  where,  we  have  a  prac- 
tical and  decisive  test  of  the  moral  influence  of  a  belief  in 
necessarian  opinions.  In  Protestant  Switzerland,  in  Holland, 
in  Scotland,  among  the  English  Nonconformists,  and  the 
Protestants  of  the  North  of  Ireland,  and  in  the  New  England 
States,  Calvinism  was  long  the  prevalent  faith,  and  is  proba- 
bly still  the  faith  of  a  considerable  majority.  Tiieir  moral 
education  was  at  least  completed,  and  their  collective  char- 
acter formed,  during  the  prevalence  of  Calvinistic  opinions. 
Yet  where  are  commiHiities  to  be  found,  of  a  more  pure  and 
active  virtue  ?" 

The  accusations  brought  against  evangelical  writers  and 
professors,  as  requiring  too  much,  or  making  no  sufficient  al- 
lowance for  the  weakness  of  human  nature  ; — as  rigid,  austere, 
enemies  to  innocent  amusements  ; — as  setting  themselves  up 
as  better  than  their  neighbors  ; — as  righteous  overmuch  ; — 
are  also  concessions  in  point :  as  are  also  the  topics  of  ridi- 
cule, having  reference,  as  they  do,  to  the  fastidious  strictness 
of  our  ancestors,  and  of  evangelical  professors  ;  to  which  we 
may  add,  the  invidious  names  given  to  them,  of  Puritan, 
IMethodist,  &ic.  It  appears  then,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that 
sound  morality  has  never,  in  any  country  or  age,  been  so 
elevated,  and  so  extensively  prevalent,  as  in  those  communi- 
ties where  the  evangelical  doctrines  have  been  most  uni- 
versally believed,  and  most  diligently  taught,  in  families  and 
schools,  and  in  the  sanctuary.  It  has  been  said,  I  am  sensi- 
ble, that  these  salutary  effects  of  the   evangelical  system  are 


234 

])roducecl  by  the  truths  contained  in  it  in  common  with  the 
liberal  system,  and  in  spite  of  the  errors  it  embraces,  and  not 
hxj  them.  Does  the  truth,  then,  mingled  with  absurdity  and 
falsehood,  produce  better  effects  than  the  truth  simple  and 
undefiled,  as  in  the  liberal  system  it  is  claimed  to  be  ?  If  it 
is  the  truth,  held  in  common  by  the  evangelical  and  liberal 
systems,  which  produces  these  good  effects,  why  does  not 
the  liberal  system  alone  produce  the  same  effects  ?  Allow 
me  to  suggest  another  solution.  The  evangelical  system 
requires  a  stricter  morality,  enforced  by  more  powerful  mo- 
tives. It  adopts  as  its  rule,  the  moral  law  unmitigated  ;  and 
its  sanctions,  of  eternal  life  and  eternal  death  ; — a  law,  which 
the  opposite  system  regards  as  too  strict,  and  as  set  aside  or 
mitigated  in  accommodation  to  human  frailty  ;  and  whose 
sanctions  are  regarded  as  nothing  ; — or  as  a  salutary  tempo- 
rary discipline  ; — or  as  annihilation  ; — or  as  a  matter  of  en- 
tire uncertainty.  Now  is  it  strange,  that  lax  requisitions, 
and  feeble,  uncertain  sanctions  do  not  produce  the  strict  and 
vigorous  morality  of  the  law  of  God.  What  would  human, 
laws  avail,  should  expositors  and  judges  say,  '  Men  are  too 
wicked  to  allow  of  our  interpreting  the  laws  strictly ;  thfey 
must  not  be  understood  to  mean  exactly  what  they  say,  or  to 
threaten  exactly  what  they  speak ;  perfect  honesty,  or  truth, 
or  purity,  is  not  to  be  expected  ;  a  little  fraud,  and  theft,  and 
perjury,  and  violence,  they  allow,  in  accommodation  to  hu- 
man weakness ;  and  threaten  the  greater  crimes  with  no 
■puniskment,  or  only  a  beneficial  temporary  discipline,  or  exile 
from  the  state,  or — we  know  not  what  V 

Again,  the  evangelical  system  produces  the  best  attend- 
ance on  the  public  worship  of  God,  and,  of  course,  if  the  mo- 
ral tendency  of  each  were  the  same,  that  would  produce  the 
strictest  and  most  general  morality,  which  commanded,  most 
extensively  and  deeply,  the  attention  of  men.  That  the  doc- 
trines of  the  evangelical  system  do  this,  is  claimed  as  true  by 
Witherspoon,  in  his  day,  in  Scotland  ;  and  by  Overton,  as 
true  in  England  ;  and  is  admitted  by  English  Unitarian  writ- 


235 

ers,  and  denied  by  no  one.  It  is  also  recently  admitted  in 
this  country,  as  a  matter  of  notoriety  "  which  none  will  ques- 
tion." It  is  accounted  for,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  in  a 
way  not  favorable  to  the  moral  tendency  of  evangelical  sen- 
timents. It  is  on  the  ground  of  the  intolerable  strictness  of 
liberal  preaching ;  so  strict  and  terrifying,  that  few,  besides 
the  more  pious  and  exemplary,  can  abide  it.  The  whole 
pleasure-loving,  voluptuous  and  dissipated  community  being 
driven,  panic-struck  by  Unitarian  denunciation,  to  the  horns 
of  the  altar  in  evangelical  churches  ;  where,  by  "  smooth 
preaching,"  and  the  hope  of  impunity  in  sin,  their  fears  may 
be  allayed,  and  their  consciences  quieted.* 

The  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  produced  revivals  of  reli- 
gion. The  preaching  of  it  was  attended  with  sudden  anxie- 
ties, and  deep  convictions  of  sin,  and  sudden  joy  in  believing, 
followed  by  reformation  and  a  holy  life.  Nor  was  this  the 
effect  of  miracles,  or  itself  a  miraculous  event,  in  the  common 
acceptation  of  the  term.  Miracles  merely,  produced  no 
such  effects.  It  was  under  the  preaching  of  the  word,  that 
men  were  pricked  in  their  hearts,  and  cried  out,  "  Men  and 
brethren,  what  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ?"  And  it  was  by 
the  moral  transformation  which  attended  the  apostolic  an- 
swer to  this  question,  and  not  by  the  power  of  miracles,  that 
the  Gospel  defied  opposition,  and  spread  during  the  first 
three  hundred  years.  There  was  no  resisting  it.  Convic- 
tion attended  the  word,  and  a  joyful  obedience  to  the  faith 
followed.  The  very  chiefs  of  opposition  exchanged  their 
weapons  of  annoyance  for  the  shield  of  faith,  and  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit.  And  do  not  the  same  convictions  of  sin  attend  the 
preaching  of  the  evangelical  system ;  and  does  it  not  extend  its 
victories  in  the  same  manner  ?  By  argument,  merely,  we  con- 
vince few,  and  reclaim  none.  But  there  is  an  efficacy  in  evan- 
gelical preaching  on  the  conscience  and  on  the  heart,  against 
which  neither  learning,  nor  talents,  nor  prejudice,  nor  wrath 
itself,  afford  effectual  protection.      Multitudes  who  virulently 

*  See  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  >Smooth  Preaching,"  written  by  a  Unitarian. 


236 

hated,  and  verily  thought  that  they  ought  to  oppose  evan- 
gehcal  doctrines  and  revivals  of  religion,  have  been  con- 
vinced of  their  mistake  and  their  sin  ;  and  have  embraced, 
joyfully,  the  doctrines  which  they  reviled.  Many  who  preach 
the  liberal  system  can  bear  witness,  that  they  have  lost,  in 
this  way,  again  and  again,  the  very  pillars  of  their  societies. 
Defections  of  the  same  kind  are  frequent  still,  and  clothe 
evangelical  doctrines  and  revivals  of  religion  with  a  terrifying 
power. 

The  faith  delivered  to  tlie  saints  was  efficacious  in  the  sud- 
den reformation  of  those  who  had  been  long  under  the  domin- 
ion of  vicious  habits. .  The  apostle  enumerates  the  habits  of 
crime  which  prevailed  among  Pagans  ;  and  then,  writing  to 
the  church  of  Corinth,  says,  "  And  such  were  some  of  you."  • 
But,  while  the  liberal  system  despairs,  professedly,  of  any 
sudden  reformation  from  vicious  habits,  as  against  the  estab- 
lished laws  of  the  moral  world  ;  and  is  unable  to  produce  an 
instance  in  which  a  vicious  person  has  been  reformed  by 
abandoning  the  evangelical,  and  adopting  the  liberal  sys- 
tem, ;  and  while  reformation  from  vicious  habits  is  a  rare 
event,  if  it  exist  at  all,  under  liberal  preaching  ;  it  is  a  frequent 
event  for  profligates,  on  abandoning  their  confidence  in  the 
liberal  system  and  adopting  the  evangelical,  to  manifest 
a  most  salutary  and  abiding  change  of  character  and  con- 
duct. In  almost  all  the  revivals  of  religion  vi^hich  are  now 
prevailing  in  our  land,  there  are  some  to  whom  it  may  be 
said,  "  And  such  were  some  of  you,  but  ye  are  washed,"  &,c. 
Dr.  Chalmers,  who  preached  the  liberal  system  twelve  years, 
and  after  this  the  evangelical,  says,  "  And  here  I  cannot 
but  record  the  effect  of  an  actual,  though  undesigned,  experi- 
ment, which  I  prosecuted  for  upwards  of  twelve  years, 
among  you.  For  the  greater  part  of  that  time,  I  could  ex- 
patiate on  the  meanness  of  dishonesty,  on  the  villany  of 
falsehood,  on  the  despicable  arts  of  calumny  ;  in  a  word, 
upon  all  those  deformities  of  character,  which  awaken  the 
natural  indignation  of  the  human  heart  against  the  pests  and 


237 

the  disturbers  of  human  society.  Even  at  this  time,  I  cer- 
tainly did  press  the  reformations  of  honor,  and  truth,  and  in- 
tegrity, among  my  people  ;  but  I  never  once  heard  of  any 
such  reformations  having  been  effected  amongst  them.  If 
there  was  any  thing  at  all  brought  about  in  this  way,  it  was 
more  tlian  ever  I  got  any  account  of.  I  am  not  sensible  that 
all  the  vehemence  with  which  I  urged  the  virtues  and  the 
proprieties  of  social  life,  had  the  weight  of  a  feather  on  the 
moral  habits  of  my  parishioners.  And  it  was  not  till  I  got 
impressed  by  the  utter  alienation  of  the  heart,  in  all  its  de- 
sires and  affections,  from  God  ;  it  was  not  till  reconciliation 
to  him  became  the  distinct  and  the  prominent  object  of  my 
ministerial  exertions  ;  it  was  not  till  I  took  the  scriptural 
way  of  laying  the  method  of  reconciliation  before  them  ;  it 
was  not  till  the  free  offer  of  forgiveness  through  the  blood  of 
Christ  was  urged  upon  their  acceptance  ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit, 
given  through  the  channel  of  Christ's  mediatorship  to  all 
who  ask  him,  was  set  before  them  as  the  unceasing  object  of 
their  dependence  and  their  prayers  ;  it  was  not,  in  one  word, 
till  the  contemplations  of  my  people  were  turned  to  these 
great  and  essential  elements  in  the  business  of  a  soul  provid- 
ing for  its  interest  with  God,  and  the  concerns  of  its  eternity  ; 
that  I  ever  heard  of  any  of  those  subordinate  reformations 
which  I  aforetime  made  the  earnest  and  the  zealous,  but  I  am 
afraid,  at  the  same  time,  the  ultimate  object  of  my  earlier 
ministrations."* 

The  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  produced  a  spirit  of  mis- 
sions. On  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  number  of  disciples  was 
one  hundred  and  twenty.  And  on  that  day  the  scales  of 
Jewish  prejudice  fell  from  their  eyes  ;  and  the  spirit  of  mis- 
sions descended  upon  their  hearts  ;  and,  in  three  hundred 
years,  without  colleges,  or  theological  seminaries,  or  the  press, 
or  governmental  aid,  but  in  opposition  to  its  dire  hostility, 
they  evangelized  the  world.     And  are  not  the  great  move- 

*  Chalmers'  Farewell  Discourse  addressed  to  his  parishioners  of  Kilinany,  in  his 
series  of  Discourses,  pp.  110,  111,  112. 

31 


238 

merits  now  making  to  evangelize  the  world,  conducted 
chiefly  under  the  auspices,  and  by  the  charities  of  those,  who 
adopt  substantially  the  evangelical  system  ?  Are  not  all  the 
denominations  in  the  world,  who  believe  in  the  Divinity  of 
Christ  and  his  atonement,  in  the  depravity  of  man  and  his 
need  of  a  moral  renovation  by  the  Spirit,  and  in  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith,  and  future  eternal  punishment,  more 
or  less  engaged  in  the  work  of  missions  ?  And  is  there,  in  the 
wide  world,  a  denomination  which  rejects  these  doctrines, 
that  is  thus  engaged  ?  And  is  this  system,  which  does  noth- 
ing to  evangehze  the  world,  the  Gospel;  and  .that,  whiTih 
does  all  that  is  done  in  accordance  with  the  efforts  of  the 
primitive  church,  not  the  Gospel  ? 

The  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  produced  a  piety  of  great 
solemnity,  and  ardor,  and  decision.  It  was  a  piety  which 
took  delight  in  the  public  worship  of  God,  and  in  frequent 
private  association  for  religious  conference  and  prayer ;  a 
piety,  which  included  a  deep  solicitude,  and  made  vigorous 
exertions  for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  experienced  pe- 
culiar joy  in  the  event ;  a  piety,  which  espoused  openly  the 
cause  of  Christ,  encountered  obloquy  and  the  loss  of  all  things, 
and  stood  undaunted  in  the  face  of  danger,  and  produced  joy 
unspeakable  in  the  hour  of  death.  And 'is  not  this,  pre- 
cisely, the  same  cast  of  piety  which  the  evangelical  sys- 
tem does,  and  which  the  liberal  system  does  not,  produce  ? 
Is  not  the  deeply  serious  cast  of  the  one  regarded  as  con- 
stituting the  evangelical  a  gloomy  religion  ;  and  the  lighter 
cast  of  the  other,  as  giving  to  it  vastly  the  preference  on 
the  score  of  cheerfulness  f  Is  not  the  ardor  of  the  one 
stigmatized  as  enthusiasm  ;  and  the  cool,  deliberate,  intel- 
lectual cast  of  the  other  regarded  as  giving  to  it  the  envia- 
ble pre-eminence  of  a  rational  religion  ?  Does  not  the  one 
delight  in,  and  the  other  deprecate,  frequent  voluntary  asso- 
ciations for  religious  conference  and  prayer  ?  Does  not  the 
one  ridicule  the  supposed  work  of  sudden  conversion  by  the 
Spirit  of  "God,  and  the  other  hold  it  in  the  highest  estimation  .'' 


239 

Do  not  the  converts  to  the  one  system,  as  far  as  they  are 
called  to  it,  disregard  obloqny,  and  endure  persecution  ;  while, 
"  throughout  our  country,  a  very  large  proportion  of  those 
men,  who,  for  their  talents  and  learning  and  virtues,  have  the 
most  influence  in  the  community,  are  dissatisfied  with  the 
Trinitarian  and  Calvinistic  form,  in  which  they  have  had  re- 
ligion presented  to  them  ;  but  are  prevented  from  making  a 
public  avowal  of  their  opinions  by  an  umvilUngness  to 
encounter  opposition,  and  obloquy,  and  loss  of  confidence, 
and  the  power  of  being  useful  T^*  Are  the  sentiments  which 
these  men,  "  all  over  our  country,^^  are  supposed  to  prefer 
to  the  evangelical  system.  The  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saiiits,  which,  in  the  primitive  church,  produced  a  love  to 
Jesus  Christ  so  ardent,  an  avowal  of  his  doctrine  so  undaun- 
ted, and  an  enterprise  so  efficient,  as  moved  onward,  from 
conquering  to  conquer,  through  good  report  and  evil,  through 
honor  and  dishonor,  through  fire  and  blood  ?  Alas  !  how  is 
the  gold  become  dim,  and  the  fine  gold  changed  ? — But  is  it 
so  ?■  Is  that  the  primitive  faith  which  produces  none  of  these 
consequences  ;  and  is  that  another,  and  an  opposite  faith, 
which  produces  them  all  ? 

With  respect  to  the  manner  in  which  cordial  believers  in 
the  two  systems  die,  we  have  only  to  say,  that,  generally, 
professors  of  religion  of  evangelical  opinions,  who  have  in 
life  adorned  their  profession,  approach  their  last  hour  without 
fear,  and  with  great  composure  of  mind,  and  with  cheerful 
resignation.  In  some  instances  they,  even  as  the  apostle 
Paul  did,  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ ;  and,  not  un- 
frequently,  their  views  and  affections  and  anticipations  of 
glory  render  them  exceedingly  joyful  in  the  last  hour.  Now 
we  ask,  and  refer  for  an  answer,  to  every  man's  observation  ; 
Is  this  the  manner  in  which  liberal  opinions  esable  those  to 
die  who  cordially  embrace  them  ?  If  some  of  this  descrip- 
tion meet  death  without  fear,  are  not  many  terrified  at  his 
approach  ?  If  some  are  tranquil,  are  not  more  agitated  ^  If 
*  Dr.  Ware. 


240 

some  manifest  resignation,  do  not  a  far  greater  number  cling, 
with  unyielding  grasp,  to  life;  or  manifest  only  the  resignation 
of  necessity  ?  And  are  there  any,  who,  by  the  liberal  sys- 
tem, are  inspired  with  such  love  for  Christ,  as  to  desire  ear- 
nestly to  depart  and  be  with  him  ?  And,  especially,  are  there 
any,  whose  views,  and  affections,  and  anticipations  of  glory 
render  their  death-bed  a  scene  of  the  most  exalted  joy  ? 

The  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  was  attended,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  with  an  unwavering  confidence  of  its 
truth.  False  christs  and  false  prophets  arose,  but  they  could 
not  "  deceive  the  elect."  Winds  of  false  doctrine  blew,  but 
they  scattered  only  the  chaff;  some  also  made  shipwreck  of 
the  faith,  but  it  was  not  the  saints.  There  were  heresies 
early ;  and  it  was  needful  there  should  be,  that  they  which 
were  approved  might  be  manifest.  And  they  were  manifest ; 
for  the  last  apostle  that  remained,  testified  ;  "  They  went  out 
from  us,  but  they  were  not  of  us  ;  lor  if  they  had  been  of  us, 
they  would  no  doubt  have  continued  with  us."  But  to  those 
who  adhered  to  the  faith,  he  said  ;  "  Ye  have  an  unction 
from  the  Holy  One,  and  know  all  things  :"*  i.  e.  You  know 
the  truth  of  all  those  doctrines  which  some  have  rejected. 
Now  it  is  admitted,  that  some  patrons  of  the  evangelical  sys- 
tem abandon  it.  But  it  will  not  be  denied,  that,  as  a  general 
fact,  they  hold  the  same  system  of  truth  to  the  end,  modified, 
explained,  and  proved,  with  some  variation ;  but  the  same 
system  undeniably.  But  can  it  be  said  of  the  patrons  of  the 
liberal  system,  as  a  body,  that  their  system,  first  and  last,  is 
the  same  ?  Can  it  be  said  of  an  individual  scarcely,  that  he 
continues  to  embrace  the  same  system  through  life  .^  Dr. 
Priestley  has  told  us,  that  he  was  first  a  Calvinist ;  and  that 
he  successively  embraced,  and  abandoned,  in  his  way  down- 
ward to  low  Socinianism,  all  the  intervening  systems  ;  and 
did  not  know  how  long  he  should  maintain  his  existing  faith, 
or  what  would  come  next.  The  same  course  has  been  trav- 
elled over  by  liberal   critics   and  learned   expositors  in   Ger- 

*  1  John,  ii.  19,  20. 


241 

many :  and  in  tliis  country,  it  is  begun,  it  is  believed,  by 
most,  and  completed  by  many,  who  adopt  the  liberal  system. 
Is  it  not  notorious,  that  evangelical  men  are  reproached,  as 
being  singularly  confident  that  they  only  are  right ;  and  that 
Unitarians  profess  to  have  arrived  at  certainty  chi'efly  in  re- 
spect to  the  falsehood  of  the  evangelical  system  ;  while,  in 
relation  to  their  own,  there  are  many  points  on  which  they 
have  not  had  time  to  make  up  their  minds  ;  and  concerning 
which,  with  other  loise,  and  great,  and  good  men,  they  con- 
tinue to  doubt?  Indeed,  it  might  appear  unseemly  for  men, 
who  had  discovered  that  four  out  of  five  of  their  systems  of 
belief,  deliberately  adopted,  were  wrong,  to  entertain  a  very 
high  opinion  of  the  powers  of  their  own  reason  at  least,  or  to 
be  confident  of  the  truth  of  their  fifth  or  sixth  opinion,  in 
respect  to  the  great  points  of  revealed  doctrine.  But  where, 
among  these  changing  men,  "  ever  learning"  their ^05^  errors, 
"  and  never  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth ;"  where  is 
that  unction  from  the  Holy  One  which  the  saints  possessed, 
and  its  attendant  knowledge  of  all  things  ?* 

4.  A  departure  from  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints,  pro- 
ducing divisions  in  the  church,  was  denominated  a  heresy 
during  the  three  first  centuries. 

*  A  writer  of  eminence,  in  a  sermon  from  1  Cor.  xiii.  10,  delivered  at  an  ordina- 
tion,t  assumes,  without  any  attempt  at  exposition,  or  proof,  tliat  even  the  apostles 
knew  hut  in  part  :  from  which  has  resulted  "  diversity  of  opinion,"  and  the  fact,  that, 
though  of  two  opposite  opinions,  both  cannot  be  true  ;  "  they  may  both  be  innocent :" 
and  that  this  imperfection  of  knowledge  may  have  been  designed  "  as  a  moral  disci- 
pline," and  "  to  give  a  larger  scope,  and  new  occasion,  for  the  exercise  of  good  feel- 
ing." It  certainly  would  have  been  relevant  and  desirable,  that  it  should  have  been 
ascertained  whether  this  conceded  ignorance  of  the  apostles,  respected  doctrinal  know- 
ledge, or  only  experimental  knowledge,  begun  in  time,  and  to  be  consummated  in 
heaven  ;  the  latter,  seeming  to  be  the  subject  of  discourse,  and  not  at  all  the  former. 
Whether  their  partial  ignorance  of  christian  doctrine,  had  respect  to  a  partial  revela- 
tion of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  or  to  the  doctrines  which  are  revealed.  If  it  re- 
spected revealed  doctrines,  whether  their  ignorance  wah  owing  to  their  indolence,  or 
incapacity  to  understand,  or  to  such  obscurity  in  the  revelation  of  them,  that  even 
apostles  could  understand  only  a  part  of  the  doctrines  which  God  had  revealed.  We 
cannot  but  admire,  if  it  were  partial  doctrinal  knowledge  which  is  conceded  by  the 
apostles,  how  they  should  have  drawn  inferences  from  the  fact,  so  directly  opposed  to 
those  which  were  drawn  by  this  writer.  The  one,  inferring  charity  and  moderation; 
the  other,  the  duty  of  contending  earnestly  for  the  (aith.  The  one  annthcniaiizing 
any  man,  or  even  an  angel,  who  should  preach  any  other  Cospel  ;  and  the  other, 
interring  from  the  same  premises,  the  equal  innocence  of  doctrinal  truth  and  doctrinal 
falsehood. 

\  Dr.  Ware's  Sermon  delivered  at  the  ordination  of  tho  Rev.  William  B.  O.  Peabody,  at 
Springfield,  1830. 


242 

This  does  not  prove  those  doctrines  to  be  false  which  tl)e 
cliurches  condemned,  because  churches  and  councils  are  not 
infallible  ;  but  it  does  prove  the  opinions  denominated  hereti- 
cal, to  be  novelties,  and  in  opposition  to  the  received  opinion 
of  the  church  until  the  time  of  their  condemnation.  The 
declaration  of  the  primitive  church  that  a  doctrine  is  a  heresy, 
is  a  public  formal  testimony,  as  to  what  had  been,  until  then, 
the  received  opinion  of  the  churches. 

The  heretics  themselves  admitted,  sometimes,  that  their 
opinions  were  novel,  but  contended  that  they  were  neverthe- 
less true  ;  or,  more  commonly,  so  explained  them,  as  to  claim 
that  they  were  not  a  departure  from  the  received  faith  : 
uniting,  of  course,  the  testimony  of  heretics,  to  that  of  the 
church,  as  to  what  had  been  the  received  opinion. 

From  the  nature,  then,  and  the  known  era  of  the  several 
heresies  in  the  primhive  church,  we  may  ascertain  what  was 
the  antecedent  faith  of  the  church,  on  the  points  to  which 
they  relate. 

The  doctrine  of  the  incarnation  of  Christ  was  the 
received  opinion  of  the  church,  when  denied  by  the  Gnos- 
tics, towards  the  close  of  the  first  century.  The  divinity 
of  Christ  was  the  received  opinion  of  the  church  when  denied 
by  Arius,  A.  D.  315  ;  who,  soon  after,  was  condemned  as  a 
heretic  in  a  council  of  380  Fathers.  And  the  doctrines  of 
original  sin,  entire  depravity,  regeneration  by  special  grace, 
and  justification  by  faith,  continued  to  be  the  received 
doctrines  of  the  church  until  the  time  of  Pelagius,  about 
A.  D.  400. 

The  doctrines  of  the  evangelical  system,  then,  commenced 
their  journey  down  to  us  from  the  apostolic  age  :  and  as  each 
doctrine  of  the  liberal  system  encountered  any  one  of  them, 
that  was  declared  by  the  church  to  be  a  novelty,  and  the 
other  the  antecedently  received  opinion  of  the  church.  Can 
this  fact  be  reconciled  with  the  supposition  that  the  liberal 
system  was  the  faith  ^rs^  delivered  to  the  saints  ?  Did  all  the 
churches,   from  the  beginning,  misunderstand  the  import  of 


243 

the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  and  all  the  apostolic  exposhlons  of 
them ;  and  misunderstand,  systematically,  and  exactly  alike, 
on  all  points,  and  in  direct  opposition  to  what  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  apostles  intended  to  teach  ;  and  this  too,  without 
concert,  and  throughout  the  Roman  Empire  ?  Or  if  the 
liberal  was  the  system  first  delivered  to  the  saints,  could  all 
the  churches  hav^e  exchanged  it  for  the  opposite  system,  so 
early,  so  silently,  so  unitedly,  as  to  have  the  tvhoh  truth 
regarded  as  a  novelty,  and  denounced  as  a  heresy,  in  the 
second,  and  third,  and  fourth  centuries  ?  Dr.  Priestley  has 
indeed,  attempted  to  show  that  the  liberal  system  was  that 
which  was  actually  delivered  by  Christ  and  his  apostles  to 
the  saints,  and  that  such  a  change  as  we  have  supposed,  did 
happen  in  the  progress  of  two  or  three  hundred  years.  But, 
beside  the  utter  failure  of  his  proof,*  he  might  as  well  have 
attempted  to  show  that  the  course  of  all  the  rivers  in  the 
Roman  Empire  was  reversed  during  the  three  first  centuries 
of  the  Christian  era,  in  opposition  to  the  testimony  of  all  the 
historians  and  naturalists  of  the  empire,  convened  by  public 
authority,  on  purpose  to  inquire  into  the  matter  of  fact. 

5.  It  is  a  point  decided  by  inspiration,  that  the  martyrs 
who  suffered  under  Pagan  and  Papal  persecutions,  held  the 
same  faith  ;  and  that  the  faith  which  they  held,  and  for  which 
they  suffered,  is  the  faith  which  was  delivered  to  the  saints. 
The  apostle  John  saw  in  vision,  "  under  the  altar,  the  souls 
of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  tes- 
timony which  they  held."f  It  is  called  in  another  place, 
"  the  commandments  of  God,  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ."!  These  are  the  martyrs  under  Pagan  Rome.  But 
with  reference  to  those  who  suffered  afterwards,  under  Papal 
Rome,  it  is  said  :  "  Here  is  the  patience  of  the  saints  :  here 
are  they  that  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and  the  faith  of 

*  See  Tracts  in  controvprs3'  with  Dr.  Priestley  hy  the  Rev.  Heneage  Horsley, 
A.M.  Also,  a  Vindication  of  the  doctrine  of  Scripture,  and  of  the  primitive  faith 
concerning  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  in  reply  to  Dr.  I'riestlev's  History  of  Early  Opin- 
ions, &,c.  by  the  Rev.  John  Jamieson,  D.  D.  F.  R.  S.  of  Forfar. 

t  Rev.  vi.  9.  t  Rev.  xii.  17. 


244 

Jesus."*  The  faith,  then,  which  the  martyrs  held  unde^  Pagan 
and  Papal  Rome,  and  for  which  they  suffered,  was  the  same  ; 
and  was  the  word  of  God  and  the  faith  of  Jesus.  But 
we  know,  by  evidence  unequivocal  and  undeniable,  that  the 
doctrinal  opinions  of  the  martyrs  under  Papal  Rome,  were- 
the  doctrines  of  the  evangelical  system,  and  not  those  of  the 
liberal  system.  They  exist  now  upon  historical  records,  and 
in  pul^lic  creeds  ;  and  are  denominated  the  doctrines  of  the 
Reformation.  The  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  then,  which 
we  denominate  the  evangelical  system,  have  the  seal  of  heaven 
impressed  upon  them,  as  being  the  word  of  God  and  the 
FAITH  of  Jesus  ; — the  faith  which  was  once  delivered 
TO  the  saints. 

I  am  now  to  explain  the  manner,  in  which  the  churches  of 
our  Lord  should  contend  for  the  faith.     And, 

1.  By  a  proper  exercise  of  their  civil  influence. 

The  rights  and  duties  of  christians,  as  members  of  a  civil 
community,  are  not,  it  is  believed,  generally  understood. 
As,  in  the  first  generations  of  New  England,  every  thing, 
almost,  was  done  by  civil  government,  to  promote  religion  ; 
the  idea  has  descended,  that  christians  have  some  influence 
to  exert,  favorable  to  religion,  through  the  medium  of  gov- 
ernment :  without  the  perception,  exactly,  how  it  is  to  be 
done,  in  the  present  altered  state  of  things.  Christians  now, 
in  their  civil  capacity,  are  members  of  a  great  empire,  whose 
administration  cannot  be  modified  in  accommodation  to  local 
rehgious  purposes.  A  multitude  of  denominations  of  chris- 
tians have  arisen  also,  each,  upon  principles  of  religious 
liberty,  entitled  to  impartial  protection  ;  and  excluding,  in 
behalf  of  any,  governmental  favoritism. — In  this  new  state  of 
things,  christians  are  perplexed,  and  know  not  what  to  do. 
They  are  afraid  to  withhold  their  efforts  to  benefit  religion 
through  the  medium  of  government ;  and,  environed  by  diffi- 
culties and  dangers,  they  are  afraid  to  exert  it.     For  my  own 

*  Rev.  xiv.  12. 


245 

satisfaction,  in  the  first  instance,  I  have  been  led  to  investigate 
the  subject ;  and,  though  I  have  not  found  it  unattended  with 
difficuhies,  my  mind  rests  in  the  following  results. 

(1.)  Christians  are  not  to  attempt  to  control  the  administra- 
tion of  civil  government,  in  things  merely  secular. 

This  is  what  our  Saviour  refused  to  do,  when  he  decHned 
being  a  king,  or  ruler,  or  judge.  It  would  secularize  the 
church,  as  the  same  conduct  secularized  the  church  of 
Rome;  and  bring  upon  her,  and  justly,  a  vindictive  reaction 
of  hatred  and  opposition.  When  great  questions  of  national 
morality  are  about  to  be  decided,^  such  as  the  declaration  of 
war ;  or,  as  in  England,  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  ;  or 
the  permission  to  introduce  Christianity  into  India  by  mission- 
aries ;  it  becomes  christians  to  lift  up  their  voice,  and  exert 
their  united  influence.  But,  with  the  annual  detail  of  secular 
policy,  it  does  not  become  christians  to  intermeddle,  beyond 
the  unobtrusive  influence  of  their  silent  stifFrage.  They  are 
not  to  "  strive,  nor  cry,  nor  lift  up  their  voice  in  the  streets." 
The  injudicious  association  of  rehgion  with  pohtics,  in  the 
time  of  Cromwell,  brought  upon  evangelical  doctrine  and 
piety,  in  England,  an  odium  which  has  not  ceased  to  this 
day. 

(2.)  It  is  equally  manifest,  that  christians  should  not  attach 
themselves,  exclusively,  to  any  political  party,  or  take  a  deep 
interest  in  political  disputes. 

No  party  is  so  exclusively  right,  as  to  render  it  safe  for 
any  man  to  commit  his  conscience  to  its  keeping,  and  act 
implicitly  according  to  its  dictation.  Nor  can  any  party,  in 
a  popular  government,  be  sufficiently  secure  from  change,  to 
render  it  safe  to  identify  with  it  the  interests  of  religion. 
Besides,  if  christians  enter  deeply  into  pohtical  disputes,  they 
will  be  divided,  and  one  denomination  arrayed  against  another, 
in  their  prayers  and  efibrts ;  and  one  christian  against  another, 
in  the  same  church.  A  spirit  of  party  zeal  creates  also,  a 
powerful  diversion  of  interest  and  effort  from  the  cause  of 
Christ ;  creates  prejudices  in  christians  one  against  another  ; 
32 


246 

and,  in  the  community,  against  the  cause  itself.  It  annihilates 
spirituality  of  mind  ;  prevents  a  spirit  of  prayer,  and  efforts 
for  revivals  of  religion  ;  and  renders  christians  the  mere  dupes 
and  tools  of  unprincipled,  ambitious  men.  No  sight  is  more 
grievous,  or  humiliating,  than  to  see  christians  continually 
agitated,  by  all  the  great  and  little  political  disputes  of  the 
nation,  the  state,  the  city,  and  town,  and  village;  toiling  in 
the  drudgery  of  ambition  ;  and  flowing  hithfer  and  thither, 
like  waves  which  have  no  rest,  and  cast  up  only  mire  and 
dirt.  I  am  persuaded  that  there  has  been  utterly  a  fault 
among  christians  in  this  thing  ;  and  that  there  is  no  one  par- 
ticular in  which  it  is  more  important  that  there  should  be  a 
reformation. 

( 3.)  It  is  plain  also,  that  no  attempt  should  be  made  by 
christians  of  one  denomination,  to  hinder  the  prosperity  of 
other  denominations,  by  any  monopoly  of  governmental  influ- 
ence and  favor. 

The  end  of  heaven  has  been  answered,  in  the  powerful 
and  direct  aid  given  to  the  churches  by  the  civil  fathers  of 
New  England.  Then,  it  was  needed,  to  lay  foundations,  to 
form  habits,  to  surmount  obstacles,  and  to  carry  the  churches 
through  the  wilderness.  But  now,  it  is  not  needed  5  and 
cannot  be  bestowed,  in  the  manner  it  has  been.  All  denom- 
inations of  christians  must  live  now,  by  a  general  impartial 
favor  of  government,  and  their  own  efforts  ;  the  goodness  of 
their  cause,  and  the  smiles  of  heaven.  The  favoritism  of 
government,  in  a  free  country,  is  an  advantage  too  precarious 
also,  to  be  employed,  safely,  by  any  denomination.^  For,  such 
is  the  instability  of  popular  governments,  that  their  partial  aid 
if  resorted  to,  might  exalt  at  one  time,  and  abandon  and  per- 
secute at  another.  All  denominations  have  an  equal  interest, 
now,  in  renouncing  all  attempts  at  securing  the  partial  favor 
of  government ;  and  in  insisting  upon  impartial  protection  and 
favor  only. 

Should  any  denomination,  however,  be  so  destitute  of  wis- 
dom, as  to  attempt  to  propagate  its  opinions  and  facilitate  its 


247 

progress,  by  a  monopoly  of  literary  influence  ;  through  gov- 
ernmental favor ;  and  by  rendering  their  own  sentiments  a 
passport  to  places  of  honor  and  trust,  in  the  higher,  and 
subordinate  stations  of  civil  office  and  employment ;  if  in 
these,  and  other  ways,  they  should  seek  to  give  to  themselves, 
by  the  adventitious  favor  of  government,  a  weight  in  the 
community,  and  an  influence  on  the  public  mind,  favorable  to 
their  own  religious  views,  and  adverse  to  those  of  other  de- 
nominations :  in  such  case,  civil  and  religious  liberty  would 
authorise  and  demand,  that  all  christians  of  other  denomina- 
tions, should  withhold  their  sufli'age  from  the  ambitious  sect 
who  had  perverted  and  abused  the  public  confidence.  This, 
by  those  who  should  experience  the  salutary  admonition, 
would  be  deprecated,  no  doubt,  as  "  introducing  religion 
into  politics  ;"  but  it  w^ould  in  fact  be  only  a  righteous  effort 
\o  put  that  religion  out  of  politics  which  they  had  unright- 
eously identified  with  them  ;  and  to  place  the  religious  rights 
and  privileges  of  christians,  upon  an  equality.  When  this  had 
been  accomplished,  persons  of  worth,  of  any  denomination, 
exempt  from  such  sectarian  bias  as  would  abuse  the  confi- 
dence reposed  in  them,  might  enjoy  the  public  fav^or. 

(4.)  1  cannot  perceive  that  churches  are  bound  in  point  of 
duty,  or  required  on  the  ground  of  policy,  to  confine  their 
suffrages  exclusively,  to  persons  of  their  own  denomination  ; 
or  to  regulate  them,  exclusively,  with  reference  to  piety  or 
doctrinal  opinions. 

There  are  certain  guarantees  of  integrity,  and  of  security 
to  the  general  interests  of  religion,  which,  as  christians,  we 
are  bound  to  require.  There  must  be  such  a  belief  in  the 
being  of  God,  and  of  accountability  and  future  punishment,  as 
lays  a  foundation  for  the  practical  influence  of  an  oath  :  such 
exemption  from  immorahty,  as  will  render  the  elevated  ex- 
ample of  rulers  safe  to  the  interest  of  public  morals  :  such 
general  approbation  of  the  christian  religion  and  its  institu- 
tions, as  will  dispose  them  to  afford  to  religion  the  proper 
protection  and  influence  of  government  :  and  such  exemption 


248 

from  sectarian  zeal,  as  will  secure  from  abuse,  the  confidence 
of  other  denominations,  and  an  administration  impartial  in  its 
aspect  upon  all  of  them.  But  where  these  securities  are 
given,  I  do  not  perceive  that  christians  are  forbidden  to  re- 
pose confidence  in  men,  for  civil  purposes,  who  do  not  pro- 
fess religion,  or  afford  evidence  of  piety.  Men  of  piety  are 
doubtless  to  be  preferred,  and  greatly  to  be  desired,  other 
things  being  equal :  but  I  cannot  perceive  that  the  qualifica- 
tions for  civil  trust,  and  for  membership  in  the  church,  are 
the  same  :  and  wherever  they  have  been  so  regarded,  the 
consequence  has  been,  the  intrusion  of  unsanctified  men,  by 
a  lax  examination,  or  by  dispensing  entirely  with  piety  as  a 
qualification  for  communion.  As  long  as  communion  in  the 
English  church  shall  continue  to  be  an  indispensable  qualifi- 
cation for  office,  so  long  will  the  tide  of  ambition  roll  through 
her  interior,  and  damp  the  fire  upon  her  altars.  It  was  this 
mistake  of  our  pious  fathers,  in  making  the  terms  of  commu- 
nion and  civil  trust  the  same,  which  produced  the  lax  mode 
of  admission  to  the  churches  of  New  England,  followed  by 
the  long  and  dreadful  declension  from  evangelical  doctrine 
and  piety,  which,  in  many  churches,  continues  to  this  day : 
and  the  same  course,  persisted  in,  would  perpetuate  the  same 
cfiects. 

What,  then,  is  the  ground,  which  the  churches  ought  to 
take  ?  It  is  the  high  ground  of  christian  temper,  christian 
principle,  and  christian  practice.  It  is  a  great  mistake,  if  any 
suppose  that  their  conduct,  in  relation  to  things  spiritual,  may 
be  regulated  by  one  rule,  and  in  things  civil,  by  another. 
The  Gospel  furnishes  christians  with  rules  for  their  entire  di- 
rection, in  all  things.  In  this  respect,  as  well  as  others,  "  the 
law-  of  the  Lord  is  perfect ;"  and  every  man  of  God,  is,  by  his 
Bible,  "  thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good  work." 

Let  christians,  then,  not  under  the  influence  of  party  zeal, 
but  in  the  fear  of  God,  as  those  who  must  give  an  account, 
withhold  their  suffi-ages  from  men  whose  known  opinions  de- 
stroy the  practical  influence  of  an  oath ;  whose  open  hostility 


V 


249 

to  all  religion,  renders  it  unsafe  and  sinful  to  confide  in  them; 
whose  immoral  habits  would  contaminate  the  public  morality ; 
or  whose  sectarian  zeal  would  incapacitate  them  for  a  liberal 
and  impartial  legislation  on  the  subject  of  religion  :  and  when 
this  is  done,  let  them  no  longer  know  "  any  man  after  the 
flesh ;"  but,  without  reference  to  political  party,  or  doctrinal 
creed,  vote  for  those  who  are,  in  other  respects,  worthy  of 
their  confidence.  Every  community  needs,  in  its  bosom, 
mep  of  cool  and  uncommitted  feeling,  to  allay  the  fierceness 
of  party  strife,  and  to  come  forth  for  the  salvation  of  the 
nation,  on  emergencies  of  danger.  And  why  should  not  an 
host  of  such  men,  lovers  of  their  country  and  their  God,  be 
found  in  the  church  ;  instituted  by  heaven  to  promote  peace 
on  earth,  and  good  will  to  men  .^  The  interests  of  science 
and  literature,  arc  regarded  as  too  important  to  be  identified 
with  political  parties ;  and  are  permitted  to  enjoy  the  retreat 
of  the  groves,  far  from  the  noise  of  strife  and  war.  And 
why  should  not  the  interests  of  religion  be  allowed  to  stand 
aloof  from  the  conflicts  of  ambition,  and  the  din  of  contro- 
versy ?  As  political  animosities  rage,  in  free  governments, 
and  competitions  for  office  and  power  are  conducted,  and 
ever  will  be,  till  the  world  is  far  better  than  it  now  is ; — every 
christian  may  say  of  political  partisans,  as  Jacob  said  of 
Simeon  and  Levi  :  "  Instruments  of  cruelty  are  in  their 
habitations  :  O  my  soul,  come  not  thou  into  their  secret ; 
unto  their  assembly,  mine  honor,  be  not  thou  united." 

The  effect  of  such  a  retreat  by  christians,  from  the  annual 
details  of  party  strife,  and  of  the  silent  exertion  of  evangeli- 
cal influence  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  suffj-age,  would 
be  attended  with  the  happiest  effects.  The  political  aliena- 
tion of  christians  would  cease,  and  be  followed  by  the  increase 
of  brotherly  love.  Their  diversion  from  religious  enterprise 
would  cease,  and  they  would  have  more  time  and  more  zeal 
for  the  service  of  Christ.  The  prejudice  against  religion, 
occasioned  by  their  political  officiousness,  would  be  avoided  ; 
and  that  influence,  which,  before,  was  worse  than  lost  in  the 


250 

turmoils  of  party,  would  be  sanctified  and   devoted  to  the 
cause  of  Christ. 

In  all  the  competitions  for  political  elevation,  of  which 
there  will  always  be  many  in  free  governments  ;  the  suffrage 
of  a  christian  community,  held  in  reserve,  to  be  exercised 
under  the  influence  of  conscience,  and  a  cool  uncommitted 
discretion,  would  have  an  influence  highly  salutary  to  the 
state,  and  to  the  interests  of  piety  and  morality.  As  long  as 
christians  are  divided,  and  will  vote  bHndly,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  political  mania  ;  no  individual  fears  the  conse- 
quence of  irreligion  or  immorality ;  and  no  party  fears  the 
consequence  of  them  in  their  candidates  for  office.  But  if 
christians  retire  from  unhallowed  competitions,  to  bestow 
their  suffrage  by  the  dictation  of  an  enlightened  conscience, 
they  will  hold  an  amount  of  suffrage,  not  to  be  lightly  re- 
garded or  despised  on  either  side.  In  this,  there  is  no  elec- 
tioneering, no  officious  meddhng,  and  no  violence.  Christians 
exercise  their  own  civil  rights,  under  the  guidance  of  their 
own  consciences,  enlightened  by  the  word  of  God  ;  and  in 
doing  it,  allay  the  violence  of  party,  elevate  the  standard  of 
morality,  and  secure  to  religion  all  the  protection  that  it 
needs,  and  to  their  country,  so  far  as  their  influence  can  avail, 
an  administration  of  the  government,  devoted  to  the  public 
good,  and  not  to  the  interests  of  a  party.  Experience  has 
evinced  the  vanity  of  all  hopes  of  religious  and  moral  purity 
from  the  influence  of  civil  governments  directly  ;  government 
itself,  needs  to  be  brought  under  the  influence  of  christian 
principle,  and  to  be  imbued  with  christian  feeling  :  an  event, 
which  can  be  accomplished,  only,  as  the  public  opinion  shall 
be  purified,  and  regulated  by  religious  and  moral,  princijjle. 
But  this  silent  leaven  of  the  mass,  can  be  the  result  only, 
of  a  general  increase  of  religion,  and  the  proper  exercise  by 
christians  of  their  civil  influence.  I  would  say  therefore  in 
the  language  of  Wilberforce,  "  let  true  christians,  with  be- 
coming earnestness,  strive  in  •  all  things  to  recommend  their 
profession,  and  to  put  to  silence  the   vain  scofls   of  ignorant 


251 

objectors.  Let  them  boldly  assert  the  cause  of  Christ  in  an 
age  when  so  many,  who  bear  the  name  of  christians,  are 
ashamed  of  Him  ;  and  let  them  consider  as  devolved  on  them 
the  important  duty  of  suspending  for  a  while  the  fall  of  their 
country,  and,  perhaps,  of  performing  a  still  more  extensive 
service  to  society  at  large ;  not  by  busy  interference  in  poli- 
tics, in  which  it  cannot  but  be  confessed  there  is  much  uncer- 
tainty ;  but  rather  by  that  sure  and  radical  benefit  of  restor- 
ing the  influence  of  rehgion,  and  of  raising  the  standard  of 
morality.  Let  them  cultivate  a  catholic  spirit  of  universal 
good  will,  and  of  amicable  fellowship  towards  all  those,  of 
whatever  sect  or  denomination,  who,  differing  from  them  in 
non-essentials,  agree  with  them  in  the  gi-and  fundamentals  of 
religion.  Let  them  countenance  men  of  real  piety  wherever 
they  are  found  ;  and  encourage  in  others  every  attempt  to 
repress  the  progress  of  vice,  and  to  revive  and  diffuse  the 
influence  of  religion  and  virtue.  Let  their  earnest  prayers  be 
constantly  offered,  that  such  endeavors  may  be  successful, 
and  that  the  abused  longsuffering  of  God  may  still  continue  to 
us  the  invaluable  privilege  of  vital  Christianity." 

2.  The  churches  of  our  Lord  are  to  maintain  the  faith 
delivered  to  the  saints  by  inculcating  it  early,  and  earnestly, 
upon  children. 

Catechetical  instruction  was  adopted,  universally,  by  the 
primitive  christians  ;  was  practised  by  the  Waldenses  as  their 
safeguard  against  the  seductions  of  the  Papists ;  was  resorted 
to  by  the  churches  of  the  reformation,  and  continued  by  the 
churches  of  New  England  ;  and  has  uniformly  been  followed 
by  the  revival  or  decline  of  religion,  as  it  has  been  persisted 
in  or  neglected.  It  is  pre-eminently  important  that  there  be 
in  the  church,  symbols  of  evangelical  doctrine,  associated 
with  the  earliest  recollections  of  her  children. 

The  objection,  that  children  cannot  understand  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Bible,  is  unfounded.  They  can  understand 
them,  in  their  order,  as  early  as  they  can  understand  any 
thing.     The  being   and   character  of  God,   the  doctrines  of 


252 

accountability,  depravity,  and  the  necessity  of  a  moral  change, 
are  comprehended  by  children  early,  and  with  great  ease. 
But  even  if  they  do  not,  at  the  time,  understand  the  words 
they  commit  to  memory,  will  they  never  understand  them, 
or  derive  benefit  from  them  ?  Would  any  parent  be  willing 
to  risk  the  commitment  by  his  children  of  obscene  songs, 
because,  at  the  tim'e,  their  import  was  not  understood  ? 
Would  not  the  words  be  a  leaven  of  impurity  in  the  memory, 
to  contaminate  the  mind  as  it  opened  to  the  comprehension  of 
their  meaning  ?  So  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  though  depo- 
sited as  a  dead  letter,  may  become  a  fountain  of  life  to  the 
soul,  when  it  shall  open  the  eye  of  its  understanding  upon 
them. 

The  plan  of  leaving  children  uninstructed  in  religion,  that 
they  may  come  with  an  unbiassed  mind  to  the  subject,  is  im- 
practicable. An  evil  heart  is,  itself,  a  powerful  bias  against 
the  truth  ;  and  if  the  servants  neglect  to  sow  good  seed,  the 
enemy  will  certainly  sow  tares.  The  sure  consequence  of 
leaving  children  to  grow  up  without  rehgious  instruction,  will 
be  irreligion,  and  prejudice  against  the  truth.  Whenever, 
therefore,  our  doctrinal  catechisms  are  laid  aside,  a  breach 
wide  as  the  sea  is  opened  for  the  enemy  to  come  in. 

3.  The  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  must  be  maintained  by 
means  of  literary  institutions,  regulated  and  controlled  by  its 
sanctifying  power. 

It  is  evident,  that  the  youth  of  our  colleges  cannot  be  gov- 
erned without  efficient  moral  influence.  In  our  free  country, 
neither  military  coercion,  nor  civil  power,  nor  ambition,  will, 
alone,  avail  to  snbdue  the  vicious  propensities,  and  direct  the 
principles  and  habits,  of  the  young.  Moral  influence  must 
be  employed  ;  and  the  most  powerful  moral  influence  is  that 
exerted  by  evangelical  religion.  This  system  of  faith  im- 
poses a  stricter  rule  of  duty,  and  enforces  its  requisitions  by 
more  powerful  sanctions,  attended,  when  faithfully  exhibited, 
by  the  influences  of  the  Spirit,  giving  them  effect  on  the 
heart.     The  salutary  influence  of  revivals,  and  of  the  bene- 


263 

ficiarles  of  the  churches,  in  our  colleges,  in  promoting  among 
the  young  men,  generally,  purity  of  morals,  and  increasing 
the  facilities  of  government,  are  manifest  and  great. 

Another  proof  of  the  necessity  of  such  an  influence  is 
found  in  the  destructive  consequences  of  a  perverted  litera- 
ture. Talents  and  learning  are  moral  power  ;  and  cannot 
be  arrayed  against  religion,  without  disastrous  effects.  If 
these,  then,  are  beheld  chiefly  in  alliance  with  error,  and  the 
truth  associated  chiefly  with  uncultivated  intellect ;  how  great 
and  powerful  will  be  the  prepossession  in  favor  of  error,  and 
against  the  truth  ?  We  may  as  well  expect  the  application 
of  all  the  mechanical  powers  in  the  natural  world,  without 
effect,  as  of  the  energies  of  talent  and  literature  in  the  moral 
world,  without  effect.  A  reliance  on  the  power  of  God,  in 
such  circumstances,  is  presumption  ;  for  it  supposes,  in  op- 
position to  the  declarations  of  his  word  and  his  providences, 
that  he  will  protect  by  miracle,  without  the  use  of  means. 

The  opinion  that  God  has  dispensed  with  learning  and  tal- 
ents as  auxiliaries  in  the  work  of  defending  and  propagating 
the  faith,  has  been  adopted  hastily  and  without  reason.  The 
foolishness  of  preaching  by  which  he  saves,  is  not  foolish 
preaching  ;  and  the  weak  things  which  he  employs  to  con- 
found the  mighty,  are  not  uncultivated  intellect  and  ignorance. 
The  principal  defenders  of  the  faith  in  the  primitive  church, 
were  men  of  vigorous  minds  and  extensive  knowledge.  The 
apostles  could  speak  in  every  tongue  ;  and,  besides  having 
been  instructed  by  Christ,  were,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  remind- 
ed of  his  words,  and  taught  what  to  say.  Augustine  was,  in 
his  day,  a  host.  Luther  and  Calvin  were  men  of  might. 
And  the  reformers,  generally,  had  the  advantage  of  their  an- 
tagonists in  literature  and  science.  That  none  should  preach 
the  Gospel,  who  have  not  had  the  advantages  of  a  liberal 
education,  we  do  not  assert,  nor  -believe.  But  that  such 
should  be  the  ordinary  qualifications  of  ministers,  we  do 
steadfastly  believe. 

Is  it  necessary  to  add,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  church, 
33 


254 

universally,  to  withhold  her  sons  from  those  literary  institu- 
tions which  are  hostile  to  the  doctrines  of  grace  ?  It  is  lu- 
dicrous to  pretend  that  "  no  doctrines  in  particular  are  taught" 
in  such  institutions  ;  and  that  no  influence  is  exerted  to  bias 
the  minds  of  young  men  against  the  evangelical  system. 
We  might  as  well  speak  of  a  sword  with  no  edge  in  particu- 
lar, or  a  book  containing  no  ideas  in  particular,  as  of  religious 
instruction  without  any  religious  doctrines  in  particular.  Be- 
sides, what  shall  we  think  of  churches,  associated  on  pur- 
pose to  train  up  youth  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  send- 
ing them  where  "  no  docti'ines  in  particular  are  taught  ?" 
And  is  it  true,  can  it  without  a  miracle  be  true,  that  no  influ- 
ence is  exerted,  in  such  institutions,  to  pervert  the  minds  of 
young  men  ?  Will  the  faculty,  whose  opinions  are  known 
and  revered,  as  they  are  wont  to  be,  by  their  pupils,  and  who 
hold  in  their  hands  the  distribution  of  literary  honors,  have 
no  influence  in  forming  a  popular  sentiment  hostile  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  reformation  ?  Will  this  atmosphere  of  op- 
position and  ridicule,  in  which  a  youth,  whose  previous  ed- 
ucation has  been  evangelical,  is  sent,  to  live  and  move  and 
have  his  being,  exert  no  influence  in  unsettling  his  opinions  ? 
Possibly  he  may  not  make  shipwreck  of  the  faith  ;  but  is  this 
a  justification  for  exposing  him  to  temptations,  which,  to  nine- 
teen in  twenty,  will  prove  fatal  ?  How  many  pious  parents 
already  weep  over  blasted  hopes  ?  How  many  children  of 
the  church  have,  through  the  perversion  of  their  talents  and 
acquirements,  become  her  most  powerful  adversaries  ?  Were 
the  evils  confined  to  the  unhappy  victims,  it  would  be  de- 
plorable :  for  what  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  his  son  gain  the 
highest  point  of  literary  attainment  and  renown,  and  lose  his 
soul  ?  But  many  parents  of  evangelical  opinions,  influenced 
by  the  example  of  christians,  may  send  their  children,  who 
are  not  themselves  beyond  the  reach  of  perversion.  And  all 
may  have  brothers,  and  sisters,  and  companions,  and  relatives, 
on  whom  they  may  exert  a  fatal  influence,  and  thus  become 
the  instruments  of  an  extended  diversion  of  the  public 
opinion. 


255 

4.  The  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  is  to  be  contended  for 
by  a  faithful  exhibition  of  its  sanctions. 

These  are  contained,  in  the  punishment  threatened  to  the 
rejection  of  truth,  as  a  crime  ;  and  the  calamities  inseparable 
from  the  rejection  of  it,  if  it  were  not  a  crime.  The  doctrines 
of  revelation  are  not  articles  of  speculation  merely,  but  prin- 
ciples of  moi'al  government.  They  disclose  the  law,  the  Gos- 
pel, and  the  providence  of  God.  They  are  declared  also,  to 
be  so  plain,  that  they  can  no  more  be  misunderstood,  inno- 
cently, than  darkness  can  be  mistaken,  innocently,  for  light ; 
bitter  for  sweet ;  thorns  for  grapes  ;  thistles  for  figs ;  tares  for 
wheat;  or  ashes  for  bread.  But  if  there  were  no  criminality 
attached  to  the  rejection  of  the  truth,  the  calamities  of  re- 
jecting it,  would  be  the  same,  as  if  its  rejection  were  crimi- 
nal. If  we  could  separate  criminality  from  sin,  it  would 
still  be  a  principle  of  misery.  Enmity  against  God,  malevo- 
lence, envy,  revenge,  intemperance,  and  lust,  are  sources 
of  misery,  if  they  were  not  crimes  ;  and  thus  it  is  with  fun- 
damental error  in  doctrine.  The  character,  law,  gospel, 
and  providence  of  God,  are  realities,  as  unmodified  by  hu- 
man opinion,  as  the  laws  of  the  natural  world  :  and  the  ca- 
lamity of  adopting  false  opinions  on  these  subjects,  and  of 
opposition  of  heart  to  the  true  character  and  government  of 
God,  is  the  same,  in  its  consequences  as  a  calamity,  whether 
it  be  criminal  or  not.  "  To  be  carnally  minded,"  in  either 
case,  "  is  death."  He  {hat  goes  into  eternity,  in  a  state  of 
opposition  to  the  character  and  government  of  God,  is  un- 
done, whether  guilty  or  not  guilty.  It  is  an  admitted  fact, 
that  repentance,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  are,  some- 
how, indispensable  to  render  it  consistent  for  God  to  pardon 
sin.  But  this  repentance,  and  this  faith,  are  definite  reali- 
ties ;  and,  if  a  mistake  were  not  criminal,  that  which  is  not 
repentance,  cannot  have  the  effect  of  repentance,  and  that 
which  is  not  faith,  cannot  have  the  effect  of  faith,  in  render- 
ing it  consistent  for  God  to  pardon  sin ;  however  innocently 
the  mistake  may  come  to  pass. 


256 

Besides,  men,  as  sinners,  must  be  sanctified,  as  well  as 
pardoned,  to  fit  them  for  heaven.  But  their  sanctification 
must  be  accomplished,  not  by  physical  power  exclusively, 
but  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  truth.  It  no  more  belongs 
to  omnipotence  to  give  to  error  the  effect  of  truth,  on  the 
minds  of  free  agents,  than  to  cause  a  thing  to  be,  and  not  to 
be,  at  the  same  time.  A  law  without  rewards  or  punish- 
ments, cannot  be  made  as  influential,  on  moral  beings,  as  a 
law  with  sanctions ;  any  more  than  vacuity  in  the  scales,  can 
he  made  as  weighty  as  lead.  Thou  shalt  kill,  cannot  be  made 
to  have  the  same  effect,  as  the  prohibition,  "  thou  shalt  not 
kill."  And  "  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall"  not  "  die,"  can- 
not be  made  to  affect  the  mind  of  a  sinner,  like  the  denuncia- 
tion "  the  soul  that  sinnedi,  it  shall  die."  In  like  manner, 
the  declarations,  "The  carnal  mind  is"  not  "  enmity  against 
God  5"  "if  a  man  be"  not  "born  again,  he  shall  see  the 
kingdom  of  God  ;"  "  he  that  doth"  not  "  repent  and  believe, 
shall  be  saved  ;"  "  and  he  that  is"  without  "  holiness,  shall 
see  the  Lord  ;"  "  and  he  that  doth"  not  "  deny  himself,  shall 
be  a  disciple  of  Christ ;"  cannot  be  made  to  have  the  same 
effect  in  exciting  fear,  or  producing  conviction  of  sin,  or  re- 
pentance, or  faith,  as  the  contrary  declarations.  It  is  idle  to 
talk  of  the  power  of  God,  or  of  the  goodness  of  God,  or  of 
the  mercy  of  God,  or  of  his  paternal  character ;  we  may  as 
well  rely  on  these  attributes  to  prevent  the  effects  of  fire,  or 
water,  or  poison,  on  the  natui-al  body.  We  may  as  well  play 
with  the  adder,  or  meet  the  hungry  lion,  or  leap  the  preci- 
pice, or  stand  before  the  cannon's  mouth,  confiding  in  God's 
goodness  and  our  sincerity  to  prevent  harm  ;  as  to  disregard 
or  oppose  all  the  great  laws  of  his  moral  government,  and  our 
own  moral  nature,  and  expect  that  his  power  and  goodness 
will  avert  the  consequences,  and  save  us,  without  the  truth, 
or  by  the  inslrumentality  of  error. 

Believing  then,  as  we  do,  that  the  evangelical  system  is 
the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints,  the  very  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus    Christ ;  and  that  the  rejection  of  it  is  fatal,  on  the 


257 

ground  of  crime ;  and  fatal  in  the  nature  of  things,  as  moral 
beings  are  constituted ;  we  are  bound  to  preach  this  Gospel, 
as,  in  our  opinion,  indispensable  to  salvation.  We  are 
bound  to  do  this,  because,  to  do  otherwise,  would  be  to 
preach  the  Gospel  without  sanctions  ;  which  would  render  it 
of  none  effect.  We  are  bound  to  do  it  also,  because,  as  men 
are  constituted,  opinion  has  influence,  and  we  owe  its  effica- 
cy to  Christ,  and  to  the  souls  of  men.  The  Gospel,  if  it  had 
been  preached  without  sanctions  by  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
would  have  excited  little  opposition,  and  have  done  little 
good.  The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  would  not  have  been  of- 
fended at  Christ,  but  would  have  admired  his  catholic  spirit, 
if  to  his  doctrine  he  had  subjoined;  'These  are  my  opinions; — 
but  those  who  differ  from  me,  are  doubtless  honest  and  sin- 
cere, and  will  be  mercifully  accepted  by  our  heavenly  Fa- 
ther.' Idolaters  also,  would  have  added  Christ,  as  a  god, 
to  their  thirty  thousand  gods ;  if  he,  in  return,  would  have 
given  to  each,  and  to  his  worshippers,  the  right  hand  of  fel- 
lowship. So  it  is,  precisely,  in  respect  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  evangelical  system.  "  Charity ^^  would  '^  suffer  long^^ 
and  be  as  "  hincV^  to  us,  as  to  Mohammedans,  or  Infidels,  or 
the  diversities  of  liberal  men  ;  if  the  concession  could  only  be 
made  by  us,  that  those  who  reject  these  doctrines  may  be  in- 
nocently and  safely  wrong.  It  is  holding  them  as  essential  to 
salvation,  and  all  opposite  systems  as  fatal,  that  overcomes 
the  patience  of  charity  itself,  and  brings  upon  us  the  retri- 
bution of  invective  and  obloquy.  All  this,  however,  only 
discloses  the  efficacy,  upon  the  consciences  of  men,  of 
preaching  the  truth  with  its  sanctions  ;  and  increases  our 
obligations,  and  our  motives,  to  do  it  faithfully. 

1  would  not  incumber  the  subject  here,  with  the  question, 
what  will  become  of  the  heathen,  if  the  faith  delivered  to  the 
saints  be  essential  to  salvation  ^  For,  if  it  were  true,  that 
those  to  whom  it  has  not  been  delivered,  may  be  saved  with- 
out it ;  it  would  not  follow,  that  those  can  be,  to  whom  it  has 
been  delivered,  and  by  whom  it  has  been  rejected. 


258 

Nor  is  it  needful  to  adjust  the  seeming,  or  real  differences 
of  those  christians,  who  hold,  some  to  more,  and  others  to 
less  of  the  system.  For  the  question  is  not,  how  much  of 
this  system  rtiay  be  misunderstood,  consistently  with  sancti- 
fication  by  that  which  is  still  embraced  :  but,  can  it  be  re- 
jected entirely,  by  those  who  possess  the  Bible  ;  and  they 
who  do  it,  be  sanctified  without  it,  and  saved  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  error  ?  Nor  is  it  a  question  of  any  consequence 
whether  it  he  possible  for  a  man  to  be  saved  who  rejects  this 
system,  if  it  be,  in  fact,  as  we  believe  it  to  be,  the  Gospel. 
For  what  if  it  were  possible  for  a  man  who  rejects  it  to  be 
saved,  does  that  prove  that  he  will  be  saved  ?  And  do  we 
need  no  higher  evidence  that  we  shall  be  saved,  than  is  im- 
plied in  the  fact  of  its  bare  possibility  ? 

Nor  is  the  duty  of  preaching  this  faith,  as  indispensable  to 
salvation,  affected  at  all  by  the  consideration  that  we  are  fal- 
lible, and  may  possibly  be  mistaken  in  our  opinions  :  for,  so 
long  as  we  believe,  whether  correctly  or  not,  we  must  act 
according  to  our  belief.  Nor  is  this  sitting  in  the  judgment 
seat,  and  "  dealing  damnation  round  the  land  ;"  at  all  more, 
than  our  believing  certain  human  productions  to  be  the  laws 
of  the  State,  and  that  some  men  have  transgressed  them  and 
will  be  punished,  is  sitting  in  the  judgment  seat,  and  dealing 
damnation  round  the  land. 

Nor  is  it  bigotry.  Bigotry  consists  in  a  blind  attachment 
to  opinions,  from  inchnation,  passion,  and  prejudice  ;  and 
may  be  manifested,  in  as  high  a  degree,  in  the  avowal  and 
propagation  of  liberal,  as  evangelical  opinions. 

Neither  can  I  perceive  in  what  respect  it  is  uncharitable. 
For  what  is  charity  ?  Not  a  decision  of  the  understanding, 
but  an  affection  of  the  heart.  It  is  love — good  will — benevo- 
lence.— But  while  it  leads  us  to  hope,  as  long  as  there  is 
room  to  hope,  that  a  fellow  creature  is  not  guilty,  and  in 
danger  ;  it  does  not  lead  us  to  resist  competent  evidence  of 
the  fact,  or  to  conceal  from  him  our  opinion  of  his  character, 
or  our  sense  of  his  danger.     The   more  we  love  him,  the 


259 

more  plain  will  be  our  note  of  admonition,  the  more  earnest 
our  intreaty,  and  the  more  vigorous  our  exertion,  to  save  his 
soul  from  death.  Charity,  does  not  consist  in  creeds  of 
strict,  or  liberal  import ;  but  in  the  temper  of  heart,  with 
which  they  are  adopted,  and  propagated.  It  is  very  possi- 
ble, that  a  liberal  creed  may  be  associated  with  a  haughty 
and  vindictive  temper  ;  and  what  is  called  a  severe  creed, 
with  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ.  "  Charity 
suffereth  long  and  is  kind"  under  severe  provocations. 
"  Envieth  not"  a  successful  competitor  for  popular  favor. 
"  Vaunteth  not  itself;"  does  not  trumpet  its  own  virtues 
and  praises.  "  Is  not  puffed  up "  with  vain  seJf-estima- 
tion.  "  Doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly"  by  a  light  and 
vain  deportment.  "  Seeketh  not  her  own  ;"  has  no  pleasure 
in  monopolies.  "Is  not  easily  provoked"  by  the perverse- 
ness  of  men.  "  Thinketh  no  evil,"  plotteth  none,  suspecteth 
none.  "  Rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity;"  as  if  the  means  could 
sanctify  the  end.  But  "  rejoiceth  in  the  truth,"  as  having  to 
do  with  the  affections.  "  Beareth  all  things  ;"  revilings  and 
misrepresentations,  with  meekness.  "  Believeth  all  things  " 
just  as  they  are  revealed,  as  those  knew  all  things  who  had 
an  unction  from  the  Holy  One.  "  Endureth  all  things ;" 
temptations  with  fortitude,  afflictions  with  submission. 

5.  The  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  is  to  be  defended  by 
earnest  written  discussion. 

The  opinion  that  controversy  is  of  no  use,  because  dispu- 
tants never  convince  each  other,  is  derived  from  a  very 
limited  view  of  the  subject.  It  is  nearer  the  truth  to  say, 
that  no  great  advance  has  been  made  in  science,  religion,  or 
politics,  without  controversy.  And  certain  it  is,  that  no  era 
of  powerful  theological  discussion  has  ever  past  away,  with- 
out an  abiding  effect  in  favor  of  truth.  The  discussions  of 
Augustine,  of  Luther,  and  of  Calvin,  are  felt  to  this  day  ; 
and  the  controversial  writings  of  Edwards  have  been  to  error, 
what  the  mounds  and  dykes  of  Holland  have  been  to  the 
sea.     One  danger  only  is  to  be  guarded  against ;  it  is  that  of 


260 

diminishing,  in  the  public  mind,  the  high  sense  which  has  ex- 
isted of  the  criminality  and  danger  of  error.  If  our  personal 
attachments,  and  literary  friendships,  and  courtesy  of  man- 
ner, should  bring  down  the  high  and  holy  subject  of  contend- 
ing for  the  faith,  to  a  cool  and  amicable  trial  of  classical  and 
polemical  skill ;  the  public  feeling  would  soon  be  chilled,  and 
fall  to  this  low  level  of  practical  estimation.  Every  discus- 
sion of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  should,  evidently,  be  con- 
ducted with  benevolence  ;  but  in  a  language,  and  in  a  manner, 
which  carries  home  to  the  hearts  of  men,  the  full  impression 
of  our  deep  conviction,  both  of  the  criminality,  and  the  dan- 
ger of  rejecting  the  truth. 

6.  Another  means  of  defending  the  faith  is  to  be  found  in 
a  careful  maintenance  of  the  apostolic  tenure  of  membership 
in  the  visible  church. 

This,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt,  consisted  in  a  credible 
profession  of  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  And  as  long  as  these  continued  to  be  the 
terms  of  admission,  the  primitive  churches  continued  in  a 
healthful  state.  But  when,  as  a  matter  of  courtesy  or  of  au- 
thority, the  tenure  of  membership  was  altered,  after  the  pro- 
tection and  control  of  civil  government  began ;  a  door  was 
opened  at  which  the  state  entered,  unsanctified,  the  church 
of  God  ;  and,  in  the  progress  of  ages,  reared  the  most  terrific 
despotism  of  superstition  and  ambition,  that  ever  provoked 
God,  or  oppressed  men.  At  the  reformation,  the  same  in- 
terposition of  government  modified  the  terms  of  admission ; 
and,  by  the  secular  and  unsanctified  mass  thrown  upon  the 
church,  hindered  its  consummation,  and  prepared  the  way 
for  that  swift  and  great  declension  from  evangelical  doctrine 
and  vital  godliness  which  followed. 

When  our  fathers  came  to  this  land,  in  their  flight  from 
persecution,  it  was,  primarily,  that  they  might  build  the 
church,  according  to  the  evangeHcal  pattern,  of  lively  stones 
only ;  and,  in  the  beginning,  the  tenure  of  membership  was  a 
professed  belief  in  the  doctrines  of  the  reformation,  attended 


261 

by  credible  evidence  of  regeneration.  This  strict  tenure  of 
membership,  about  the  close  of  the  first  generation,  became  a 
subject  of  complaint  by  those  who  were  excluded  from  of- 
fice, because  they  could  not  conscientiously  join  the  church  ; 
and  by  those  whose  children,  on  the  same  account,  remained 
unbaptized  ;  and  by  emigrants  from  England,  of  less  strict- 
ness of  religious  sentiment,  who  came  over  after  the  first 
perils  of  settlement  were  past.  These  united,  constituted  a 
strong  party  in  the  state,  who  were  for  admitting  all  persons 
of  a  regular  life  to  full  communion,  on  their  making  a  pro- 
fession of  their  belief  in  the  christian  religion,  without  any 
inquiry  with  respect  to  a  change  of  heart ;  and  for  regarding 
all  who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy,  as,  on  that  ground,  en- 
titled, in  adult  age,  to  membership  in  the  church.  The 
legislators  generally,  and  some  ministers,  favored  the  liberal 
side  of  the  question.  The  innovation  was,  however,  strenu- 
ously resisted  by  the  rest  of  the  clergy,  and  by  the  churches 
almost  universally.  While  hosts  without  assembled,  and 
murmurs  long  and  loud  were  heard,  they  stood  to  defend  the 
gates  of  Zion  from  the  intrusion  of  the  stranger.  At  length, 
however,  they  were  overpowered  by  numbers.  The  gates  of 
the  holy  city  were  burst  open,  and  the  world  rushed  in,  and 
took  possession  of  the  baptismal  font  and  the  sacramental 
host.  Thus,  at  a  stroke,  was  prostrated  the  system  of  church 
organization  established  by  heaven  to  perpetuate  pure  doctrine 
and  vital  piety ;  and,  from  this  time,  for  three  quarters  of  a 
century,  both  declined  in  a  manner  the  most  rapid  and  alarm- 
ing which  the  churches  of  New  England  ever  witnessed. 

In  the  course  of  ten  years  after  this  event,  a  suspension  of 
divine  influence  in  the  conviction  and  conversion  of  sinners 
took  place,  so  signal  and  alarming,  as  induced  the  legislature 
to  call  a  synod  to  inquire  into  and  report  the  causes.  The 
alarm  was  great,  and  the  lamentations  loud  and  many.  Mr. 
Stoughton,  in  an  election  sermon,  1660,  said  ;  "  Alas,  how  is 
New  England  in  danger,  this  day,  to  be  lost,  even  in  New 
England  !  to  be  buried  in  its  own  ruins !  How  sadly  may  we 
34 


262 

lament  that  all  are  not  Israel  that  are  now  of  Israel !  How  is 
the  good  grain  diminished,  and  the  chaff  increased  !"  In 
1683,  the  minister  of  Weymouth  declared,  that  "  A  great 
failure  has  taken  place  in  the  work  of  conversion,  in  the  fre- 
quency of  a  credible  profession  of  religion,  and  in  the  tokens 
of  formality,  hypocrisy  and  apostacy."  Dr.  Increase  Mather 
said  in  1697,  "  Dr.  Owen  has  proved,  that,  the  letting  go,  by 
the  primitive  churches,  of  the  principle,  that  particular  church- 
es ought  to  consist  of  regenerate  persons  only,  brought  in  the 
great  anti-christian  apostacy."  In  the  year  1700,  he  pre- 
dicted, that,  if  the  begun  declension,  (occasioned  by  the  ad- 
mission of  unrenewed  men  into  the  church,)  should  continue 
to  progress  for  thirty  years  to  come,  as  it  had  done  for  thirty 
years  past,  the  more  conscientious  people  would  be  con- 
strained to  gather  churches  out  of  churches.  A  prediction 
which  was  extensively  verified,  in  about  that  time.  This 
suspension  of  divine  influence,  and  decline  of  vital  religion, 
continued  until  the  time  of  Edwards,  the  Luther  of  New 
England  ;  who,  by  his  example,  and  by  his  unanswerable 
treatise  on  the  terms  of  communion,  revived  the  practice  of 
receiving  to  the  Lord's  table  none  but  those  who  furnished 
credible  evidence  of  a  moral  renovation  by  the  Spirit,  and  of 
repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
A  practice,  which  has  been  steadily  increasing,  from  his  day 
to  this  ;  and,  with  it,  evangehcal  doctrine,  and  revivals  of  re- 
ligion. 

By  this  course  of  ample  experiment  in  the  primitive 
church,  at  the  reformation,  and  in  New  England,  the  point 
is  settled,  that  evangelical  doctrines  cannot  be  maintained  in 
the  churches  of  our  Lord,  but  by  maintaining  the  apostolic 
tenure  of  membership.  Let  men  of  the  world  be  amalga- 
mated with  the  pious  in  the  church,  and  soon  evangelical  opi- 
nions will  be  exiled,  or  remain  only  in  her  creed  a  dead  letter. 

In  the  application  of  this  subject  we  invite  the  attention  to 
what  has  been  advanced  in  this  discourse,  of  those  whose 


263 

minds  have  been  unsettled  and  perplexed  in  respect  to  the 
claims  of  the  liberal  and  evangelical  systems  to  be  regarded 
as  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  :  or,  who  have  been  ac- 
customea  to  regard  the  latter  system  as  unintelligible,  con- 
tradictory, absurd,  and  of  no  salutary  practical  influence. 

We  are  sensible,  that,  in  our  land,  there  are  many  who 
have  no  opportunity  of  hearing  the  evangehcfil  system  of  doc- 
trines stated  in  a  manner  which  its  advocates  would  approve  : 
and  that  no  small  prejudice  has  arisen  against  it,  through 
misapprehension.  But,  with  his  Bible  in  his  possession,  we 
are  constrained  to  believe  that  every  man  may  know  what 
the  Scriptures  say  on  these  subjects ;  and  that,  if  the  evan- 
gelical system  be  divine,  it  cannot  be  rejected  with  impunity. 
If,  to  any,  this  opinion  shall  seem  severe,  and,  as  some  have 
said,  as  if  we  were  glad  that  many  will  be  lost ;  we  can  say, 
with  an  apostle,  and  call  God  to  witness,  that  "  we  have 
great  heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  in  our  hearts  for  our 
brethren,  our  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh ;"  whom,  as 
we  understand  the  Bible,  we  cannot  but  regard  as  fatally 
deceived. 

If  the  effects  of  their  mistake  were,  in  our  view,  confined 
to  this  transient  scene  ;  or,  if  we  could  believe,  that  the  truth 
of  God,  as  a  whole,  could  be  misunderstood  and  rejected, 
consistently  with  that  moral  renovation  of  the  heart  which 
is  indispensable  to  communion  with  God,  and  admission  to 
heaven,  we  might  hold  our  peace  :  for  of  what  possible  con- 
sequence can  it  be  to  us,  whether  our  fellow  men  agree  with, 
or  differ  from  us,  on  points,  which,  in  a  few  days,  may  be 
of  no  consequence.  Time  is  too  short,  and  eternity  is  too 
long,  to  justify  great  solicitude  about  things  which  affect  us 
only  here.  But  if,  as  we  believe,  all  the  quahfications  for 
heaven  have  ceased  from  the  heart  of  man,  and  all  the  means 
of  their  restoration  lie  in  the  system  of  revealed  truth,  and 
the  efficacy  given  to  it  by  the  special  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  and  if  God  will  not  sanctify  by  the  instrumentality 
of  error,  where  his  truth  is  rejected  in  the  presence,  or  within 


264 

the  reach  of  ample  evidence,  how  can  we,  in  such  circumstan- 
ces, behold  our  fellow  men,  our  friends,  and  neighbors,  moving 
onward  to  the  confirmed  state  of  a  miserable  eternity,  and  not 
be  deeply  affected  ?  We  beseech  you,  brethren,  "  by  the  meek- 
ness and  gentleness  of  Christ,"  that  you  he  not  offended  with 
our  plainness,  in  this  discourse,  nor  with  our  importunity  in  its 
application.  We  respectfully,  but  earnestly,  invite  your  atten- 
tion to  the  argument  which  has  been  submitted  to  your  consid- 
eration ;  and  intreat  that,  in  the  light  of  it,  and  of  God's  holy 
word,  you  will  give  to  your  own  opinions  one  revision  more ; 
one  careful,  prayerful,  immediate  revision  :  for  if  you  are 
wrong,  it  will  soon  be  too  late  to  retrieve  the  mistake.  Allow 
us  to  ask  you  then,  affectionately — solemnly,  whether  such  col- 
lateral evidence,  as  we  have  been  able  to  lay  into  the  scale  of 
evangelical  exposition,  can  be  the  result  of  accident ;  or  can 
be  found,  to  be  laid  in  the  opposite  scale  ^  Are  the  doctrines 
of  the  liberal  system  contained  in  the  text,  according  to  its 
most  direct  and  obvious  meaning  ?  Do  they  receive  the  sanc- 
tion of  approbation  from  the  most  devout  persons,  and  the 
sentence  of  condemnation  from  the  irreligious  and  vicious  ^ 
Does  the  liberal  system  produce  the  same  objections,  which 
the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  produced  ?  Is  it  gladly  re- 
ceived by  the  common  people,  and  rejected  by  the  same 
sort  of  men,  in  the  higher  orders  of  society,  who  rejected  the 
Gospel  ^  Do  the  doctrines  of  the  liberal  system  occasion  a 
virulent  hostility  against  them,  in  such  circumstances,  as 
show  that  it  does  not  result  from  the  ardent  love  of  truth,  or 
hatred  of  error  t  Do  they  occasion  the  same  fears  and  anxi- 
eties about  a  future  state  ;  the  same  deep  conviction  of  sin ; 
and  the  same  joyful,  and  often,  sudden  conversion  to  God,  as 
are  manifested  under  evangelical  preaching,  and  in  revivals 
of  religion  .''  Do  the  doctrines  of  the  liberal  system  produce 
revivals  of  religion  at  all;  and  not  rather,  awaken  prejudices, 
and  array  influence,  against  them.^  Do  they  produce  the  same 
style  of  piety  ;  as  deep,  solemn,  and  ardent,  as  the  faith  pro- 
duced which  was  dehvered  to  the  saints  ^  Do  they  inspire  the 


•  265 

same  solicitude  and  effort  for  the  awakening  and  conversion 
of  sinners,  under  the  hght  of  the  Gospel ;  or  the  same  com- 
passion for  the  heathen,  and  enterprise  for  their  salvation  ? 
Does  the  liberal  system  inspire  the  same  assurance  of  its 
being  true,  attended  by  the  same  unwavering  constancy  in  its 
profession,  which  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  inspired  ? 
And  does  it  produce  the  same  assurance  of  hope,  and  the 
same  sustaining  joy  "  full  of  glory,"  in  the  hour  of  death  ? 

We  make  the  appeal  to  your  consciences  and  your  hearts, 
whether  you  do  not  perceive  and  know,  that  the  liberal  sys- 
tem is  naked,  in  respect  to  these  great  effects  which  the  faith 
delivered  to  the  saints  did  produce  :  and  whether,  all  of  them 
do  not,  with  undeniable  notoriety,  cluster  about  the  path  of 
the  evangelical  system.  If  this  be  so,  can  that  system  be 
false  which  produces  the  effects,  so  many,  and  so  great,  which 
were  produced  by  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  :  and  can 
that  be  the  true  faith,  which  js  so  utterly  destitute  of  them  ? 
The  Gospel,  is  the  most  powerful  moral  cause,  which  has 
ever  operated  in  this  world.  Its  effects,  of  course,  cannot  be 
hid,  and  cannot  be  the  same  with  a  system  in  direct  opposi- 
tion to  it.  The  three  or  four  first  centuries  brought  out,  un- 
equivocally, the  effects  of  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints 
which  we  have  noted  :  these,  all  of  them,  are  found  associated 
still,  with  the  evangelical  system  ;  and  none  of  them,  with  the 
liberal  system.  Is,  then,  the  liberal  system,  the  faith  once  de- 
livered to  the  saints  ?  Why  does  it  not  produce  the  same  ef- 
fects which  that  produced  ?  Has  the  Gospel  changed  its  na- 
ture, or  lost  its  power  ;  or  has  human  nature  changed,  or 
is  the  liberal  system  another  Gospel  ?  Ponder  well  this  subject, 
for  the  judge  is  at  the  door  ;  and  the  day  will  burst  upon  us 
soon,  that  will  try  every  man's  faith,  and  heart,  and  work. 

Allow  us  then,  once  more,  to  refer  it  to  your  consciences, 
whether,  admitting  the  evidence  from  exposition  to  be  on  each 
side  the  same,  this  decisive  weight  of  collateral  evidence  ought 
not  to  withdraw  your  confidence  from  the  liberal  system,  and  to 
decide  your  judgment  in  favor  of  the  evangehcal  system,  as  the 


266  • 

very  "  word  of  God,  and  faith  of  Jesus."  Every  great  system 
of  truth  and  of  falsehood,  is  attended  by  a  mass  of  presumptive 
collateral  evidence,  for  or  against  it.  And,  while  the  evangel- 
ical system  commends  itself  to  your  confidence  by  all  that  va- 
riety of  collateral  evidence  which  has  been  exhibited,  and  the 
opposite  system  is  wholly  unattended  by  it;  dare  you,  will  you, 
reject  the  evangelical,  and  risk  your  salvation  on  the  liberal 
system  ?  Does  the  thought,  as  you  read,  offer  to  rise, '  Possibly, 
after  all,  my  own  system  may  be  a  deception,  and  that  which 
I  have  disputed  be  true  .^'  Let  it  rise  :  for  it  may  be  the 
movement,  on  your  mind,  of  the  long  resisted  Spirit,  sug- 
gesting to  your  conscience,  "  this  is  the  way,  walk  ye  in  it." 
Does  fear  flash  across  your  mind,  at  times,  the  thought,  as  a 
momentary  reality,  '  I  may  be  wrong,  after  all ;  and  these  doc- 
trines, which  produce  revivals  of  religion,  and  such  joy  in 
death,  may  be  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  ^  Stifle  not  the 
unwelcome  conviction  ;  for  it  may  be  the  commencement  of 
eternal  life  in  your  soul.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Stand  ye  in 
the  ways,  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the 
good  way,  and  walk  therein,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your 
souls." 


Note. — This  Sermon  was  reviewed  in  the  Christian  Examiner  for  Jan- 
uary and  February,  1824 ;  a  reply  to  the  Review  appeared  in  the  Christian 
Spectator  for  February  and  March,  1825,  and  may  be  seen  by  the  reader 
in  the  appendix  to  this  vohuue. 


SERMON  VIII. 


RESOURCES  OF  THE  ADVERSARY  AND  MEANS  OF  THEIR 
DESTRUCTION. 


Isaiah,  xlix.  25. — Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Even  the  captives  of  the  mighty 
shall  be  taken  away,  and  the  prey  of  the  terrible  shall  be  delivered. 

Isaiah,  liii.  12. — Therefore  will  1  divide  him  a  portion  with  the  great,  and 
he  shall  divide  the  spoil  with  the  strong ;  because  he  hath  poured  out  his 
soul  unto  death. 

Luke,  xi.  21,  22. — When  a  strong  man  armed  keepeth  his  palace,  his 
goods  are  in  peace:  but  when  a  stronger  than  he  shall  come  upon  hini,  and 
overcome  him,  he  taketh  from  him  all  his  armor  wherein  he  trusted,  and 
divideth  his  spoils. 

Rev.  xi.  15. — And  the  seventh  angel  sounded ;  and  there  were  great  voices 
in  heaven,  saying.  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of 
our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 

Rev.  xix.  5,  6. — And  a  voice  came  out  of  the  throne,  saying.  Praise  our 
God,  all  ye  his  servants,  and  ye  that  feai-  him,  both  small  and  great.  And  I 
heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of  many 
waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderings,  saying.  Alleluia :  for  the 
Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth. 

The  Scriptures  teach,  that  sin  commenced  its  reign  on 
earth  under  the  auspices  of  a  mighty  fallen  spirit ;  and  that 
he,  having  seduced  mankind  from  their  allegiance  to  God, 
has  been  constantly  employed  to  maintain  his  bad  eminence 
over  them.  They  also  teach,  that  the  Son  of  God  has  inter- 
posed to  destroy  the  works  of  this  spirit ;  and  that  he  will 
accomplish  the  object :  that  the   power  of  Satan    shall  be 


268 

broken  ;  and  the  whole  world  be  restored  to  loyalty  and  the 
favor  of  heaven. 

The  passages,  which  have  just  been  recited,  allude  to  the 
success  with  which  the  enemy  of  God  has  fortified  his  cause — 
to  its  final  overthrow — and  to  the  exultation  and  joy  with 
which  the  event  will  fill  earth  and  heaven. 

I  am  aware,  that  with  some,  the  doctrine  of  fallen  angels  is 
but  an  eastern  allegory  ;  and  the  idea  of  a  conflict,  between 
the  creature  and  Creator,  ridiculous  and  unworthy  of  the  divine 
supremacy.  I  can  only  say,  that  if  there  be  not  an  order  of 
sinful  intelligences  above  men,  the  Bible  is  one  of  the  most 
deceptive  books  ever  written.  The  entire  history  of  the  world 
shows,  that  human  depravity,  though  operating  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  mind,  is  yet  methodised  and  wielded  with  a 
comprehension  of  plan,  wholly  inexplicable  upon  the  principle 
of  accidental  coincidence  among  men.  That  there  should 
have  been  a  system  of  well-constructed  opposition  to  the  Gos- 
pel, varying  with  circumstances,  and  comprehending  the 
great  amount  of  bad  moral  influence  which  has  existed,  with- 
out some  presiding  intellect,  is  as  improbable,  as  that  all  the 
particles  of  matter  which  compose  the  universe,  should  have 
fallen  into  their  existing  method  and  order  by  mere  accident, 
and  without  the  presiding  intellect  of  the  Deity.  And  as  to 
moral  competition  between  the  creature  and  the  Creator,  it 
exists,  even  if  there  be  no  fallen  angels.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact 
before  our  eyes — a  matter  of  experience  too — that  the  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God  ;  and  that  God,  in  Christ,  is  re- 
conciling the  world  to  himself. 

It  should  be  remembered  also,  that  when  God  has  formed 
moral  beings,  even  he  can  govern  them,  as  such,  only  by 
moral  influence,  and  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  mind  : 
mere  omnipotence  being  as  irrelevant  to  the  government  of 
mind,  as  moral  influence  would  be  to  the  government  of  the 
material  universe.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten,  that  an  alienat- 
ed world  requires  more  moral  power  for  its  restoration  than 
that  of  simple  law,  which  proved  insufficient  to  maintain  its 


269 

allegiance.  It  requires  a  new  moral  influence  so  introduced 
and  applied,  as  to  corroborate  law,  and  strengthen  the  loyalty 
of  all  the  good,  while  rebels  are  reconciled  and  pardoned. 

The  reconciliation,  through  Christ,  of  such  a  world  as  this, 
in  opposition  to  the  rooted  aversion  of  every  heart,  the  con- 
centrated power  of  social  wickedness,  and  the  ceaseless 
counteraction  of  mighty  intelligences,  principalities,  and 
powers,  does  not  seem  to  us  an  achievement  unworthy  of 
that  Being,  who  numbers  the  hairs  of  our  head.  By  prophets 
and  apostles,  it  is  represented  as  exhibiting  the  height  and 
depth,  and  length  and  breadth,  of  the  wisdom,  and  goodness, 
and  power  of  God. 

In  this  discourse,  it  is  proposed  to  consider, 

The  defences  and  resources  of  the  enemy,  and 
the   means  of  their  overthrow. 

We  shall  suppose,  as  the  language  of  the  text  does,  that 
the  Christianity,  which  is  to  prevail  on  earth,  is  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  heart,  rising  to  high  eminence,  and  extending 
its  blessed  influence  through  all  the  relations  of  society,  until 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  associations  of  holi- 
ness— the  Gospel  become  the  predominant  spring  of  action, 
and  its  morality  the  governing  rule  of  all  mankind.  The 
array  of  opposition  to  such  a  glorious  change  on  earth,  now 
demands  our  attention. 

1.  At  the  head  of  opposition  to  the  Gospel,  in  numerical 
power,  must  be  placed  Idolatry.  To  banish  from  the  earth 
all  knowledge  of  God  and  his  government,  and  substitute  a 
worship  composed  of  lust  and  blood,  seems  most  desirable  to 
the  great  adversary,  where  circumstances  allow  it  to  be  done : 
and  this  he  has  achieved  in  respect  to  about  six  hundred  mil- 
lions of  the  human  family.  In  all  that  world  of  mind,  know- 
ledge is  in  deep  eclipse,  intellect  slumbers,  conscience  is 
paralysed,  and  all  holy  intercourse  between  earth  and  heaven 
is  cut  ofi";  while  passion  and  appetite,  inflamed  by  sin,  are 
suffered  to  prey  uncontrolled. 

35 


270 

2.  The  next  form  of  opposition  to  the  march  of  holiness, 
is  that  of  Imposture.  This  was  introduced  by  iMohammed. 
It  was  a  system  accommodated  to  the  condition  of  a  mingled 
population,  composed  of  Pagans,  Jews,  and  nominal  chris- 
tians, all  in  a  state  of  great  ignorance  and  deep  moral  de- 
basement. JBy  complimenting  Abraham  and  Moses,  he  be- 
guiled the  Jew ;  by  conceding  to  the  Saviour  the  rank  of  a 
prophet,  he  seduced  the  degenerate  christian;  and  by  giving 
ample  license  to  sensuality,  in  time  and  eternity,  he  secured 
the  pagan  :  and  what  persuasion  failed  to  accomplish,  was 
finished  by  the  sword.  Thus  on^  hundred  and  forty  millions 
have  been  grouped  together  under  the  most  ferocious  and 
horrid  despotism  that  ever  warred  against  heaven,  or  torment- 
ed man.  Over  all  these  the  smoke  from  the  bottomless  pit 
has  ascended,  intercepting  the  light  of  heaven,  and  dooming 
them  for  centuries  to  "  darkness  visible." 

3.  Cotemporaneously  with  this  system  of  imposture,  and 
like  it  a  subject  of  prophecy,  arose  the  Papal  superstition,  in 
the  form  of  a  corrupted  Christianity,  and  adapted  to  a  state  of 
intellectual  improvement  where  the  grossness  of  Mohamme- 
dan imposture  might  not  be  likely  to  prevail.  This  has  been, 
and  is  still,  the  master-piece  of  that  wisdom  which  is  from 
beneath;  concentrating  the  bad  influence  of  all  past  systems; 
satisfactory  to  the  pagan,  and  not  alarming  to  the  degenerate 
christian  ;  dazzling  through  the  medium  of  sense  ;  and  giving 
such  a  hcense  to  sin,  or  such  a  cheap  escape  from  its  penal- 
ties, as  allayed  all  fear,  and  stimulated  to  boundless  in- 
dulgence. 

Until  this  horrid  system  arose,  the  resistance  made  to  the 
churclvof  God  had  been  planted  without  her  walls.  Now 
the  sacred  citadel  is  assailed  and  entered.  Her  friends  are 
driven  out,  subjected  to  obloquy  and  death.  The  perverted 
authority  of  heaven,  and  the  sacred  name  of  Christianity  her- 
self, and  all  the  glorious  and  fearful  sanctions  of  eternity  are 
arrayed  against  the  pure  Gospel.  Instead  of  the  fold  of 
Christ,  the  church  became  a  ferocious  beast,  not  sparing  the 


271 

flock  :  instead  of  a  pure  virgin,  the  mother  of  harlots,~corrupt- 
ing  the  nations.  Instead  of  reflecting  the  hght  of  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness, every  orb  was  echpsed  ;  every  candlestick  removed 
out  of  its  place  ;  while  the  night  of  ages  settled  down  upon 
the  earth.  In  this  tremendous  period,  knowledge  and  virtue 
expired,  and  corruption  and  violence,  as  before  the  flood, 
filled  the  earth.  The  great  merchandise  was  in  the  souls  of 
men ;  the  chief  staples,  indulgences  to  sin  ;  and  nothing  but 
holiness  of  heart  and  life  was  absolutely  unpardonable. 

Here,  around  the  standard  of  Christ,  the  kings  of  the  earth 
took  counsel  against  the  Lord  and  his  anointed,  to  break  his 
bands  and  cast  away  his  cords.  And  here  the  atheist  and 
the  Jew,  the  infidel  and  the  libertine,  could  wear  the  sacred 
vestments,  and  make  war  upon  the  Saviour  and  his  friends. 

Popery  is  a  system,  where  science  and  ignorance,  refine- 
ment and  barbarism,  wisdom  and  stupidity,  taste  and  animal- 
ism, mistaken  zeal  and  malignant  enmity,  may  sanctimonious- 
ly pour  out  their  virulence  against  the  Gospel,  and  cry, 
Hosanna,  while  they  go  forth  to  shed  the  blood,  and  to  wear 
out  the  patience  of  the  saints.  And  though  by  revolutions  it 
has  been  shaken,  and  compelled  by  motives  of  policy  to  cease 
a  little  from  blood,  not  a  principle  of  this  system  has  been 
abandoned.  All  the  wiles  of  ages  past  are  put  in  requisition 
now,  to  heal  the  fatal  wounds  which  the  beast  has  received ; 
and  to  render  the  system  still  more  powerful  and  terrific. 
The  leaven  is  in  secret  and  in  open  operation  in  this  country ; 
and  the  quick  action  of  the  beast  to  the  touch  of  the  spear  in 
Palestine,  shows  that  he  is  neither  dead  nor  asleep.  And 
considering  the  civilization,  and  wealth,  and  science,  which 
the  system  comprehends,  it  is  from  popery,  no  doubt,  that 
the  Gospel  is  destined  to  experience  the  last  and  most  deter- 
mined resistance. 

4.  Another  form  of  resistance  to  the  Gospel  is  to  be  antici- 
pated from  the  despotic  governments  of  the  earth — so  incon- 
sistent in  their  influence  with  that  illumination  of  mind  and 
melioration  of  heart,  which,  it  is  predicted,  shall  prevail,  and 


272 

which  the  blessed  Gospel  never  fails  to  produce.  Hence  it 
may  be  expected,  that  despots  will  take  counsel  against  the 
Lord,  as  the  march  of  intellect,  and  piety,  and  civil  hberty, 
shall  minister  alarm. 

To  what  extent  forcible  resistance  will  be  made  to  the 
Gospel,  it  is  not  our  object  now  to  inquire ;  or  whether  re- 
publican forms  of  government  will  supplant  the  ancient  dynas- 
ties. It  is  enough  to  know,  that  all  the  governments  who 
yield  to  the  intimations  of  that  providence  which  sends  out 
religion  and  civil  hberty  upon  the  earth,  will  be  safe  and  hap- 
py ;  and  that  all  who  make  resistance,  will  be  agitated  by 
revohitions,  and  destroyed  by  heavy  judgments.  "  Be  wise 
now,  therefore,  O  ye  kings  ;  be  instructed,  ye  judges  of  the 
earth  :  serve  the  Lord  with  fear,  and  rejoice  with  trembhng  ; 
kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way, 
when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little." 

5.  Another  source  of  resistance  to  Christianity  is  that  of 
crime  in  its  varied  forms.     A  vast  amount  of  capital  is  em- 
barked in  enterprises  which  directly  or  indirectly  war  against 
morality.     All  this,  when  the  spirit  of  Christianity  shall  pre- 
vail, will  be  contraband,  and  be  withdrawn.     The  power  of 
steam  shall  not  needlessly  violate  holy  time,  nor  the  sail,  with- 
out cause,  whiten   in  the    Sabbath   sun,  and  spread  itself  to 
pervert  the  breath  of  heaven.     Theatres,  those  "  schools  of 
morality,"  falsely  so  called,  shall  cease  to  beguile  unstable 
souls,  whose  feet  go  down  to  death,  whose  steps  take  hold  on 
hell.     Christianity,  as  she  prevails,  will  form  a  public  senti- 
ment that  will  make  virtue  blush  at  the  thought  of  meeting 
within  the  same  walls,  and  breathing  the  same  polluted  air, 
and  applauding  the  same  exhibitions,  with  the  most  debased 
and  wretched  portion  of  the  community.    All  who  thrive  and 
grow  rich  amid  the   desolations  of  inebriation,  and  all  who 
desire  to  do  wickedly  without  loss  of  character,  or  annoyance 
of  conscience,  will  feel  instinctively  the  approach  of  religion  : 
and  as  their  craft  shall  be  in  danger,  will  raise  a   loud  and 
bitter  cry — '  Great  is  Diana.     Great  is  Diana.' 


273 

Nor  are  the  maxims  of  more  reputable  trade  in  such  nice 
accordance  with  the  "  golden  rule,"  as  to  need  no  revision, 
or  to  present  no  resistance  to  the  Gospel,  as  she  moves  on  to 
make  it  the  universal  actual  law  of  commercial  intercourse  : 
while  the  entire  world  of  honor  must  be  expected  to  stand 
against  that  Gospel,  which  forbids  murder,  and  inculates  for- 
giveness, and  arrays  public  sentiment  against  the  guilty. 

If  the  Gospel  would  proiiibit  only  acknowledged  immorali- 
ties, and  wink  at  human  weaknesses,  the  whole  pleasure- 
loving  .world  wowid  consent  to  an  armistice,  and  permit  her 
to  move  on  without  much  complaint.  But  the  inexorable 
requisitions  of  purity  of  heart  and  self-denial  cannot  fail  to 
brine;  out  against  her  a  multitudinous  and  determined  resist- 
ance.  The  haters  of  her  uncharitableness,  and  the  lovers 
of  a  more  liberal  way,  and  all  classes  of  the  openly  wicked, 
will,  it  may  be  expected,  as  the  light  increases  and  enmity 
rises,  be  condensed  into  a  firmer  and  firmer  phalanx  of  oppo- 
sition. And  now  will  the  alarm  be  sounded  about  popery 
and  priest-craft,  by  just  that  class  of  men,  who,  in  papal 
countries,  love  darkness,  and  most  cheerfully  purchase  indul- 
gences to  sin ;  and  who,  in  this  country,  should  the  darkness 
of  popery  be  permitted  to  come  upon  us,  would  be  the  first 
to  hail  it  as  a  covert  for  their  crimes  and  a  quietus  for  their 
consciences.  And  yet  panic-struck  will  many  become  about 
liberty  of  conscience,  who  long  since  have  ceased  to  have 
any  conscience ;  and  suddenly  will  many  fall  in  love  with 
civil  liberty,  who,  all  their  days,  and  with  all  their  might, 
have,  by  their  pernicious  influence,  been  employed  in  attempts 
to  undermine  her  deep  foundations. 

6.  To  cover  the  nakedness  of  this  forlorn  hope  of  opposi- 
tion to  the  Gospel,  a  more  liberal  sort  of  religion  must  be  in- 
troduced, which  shall  keep  men  in  countenance,  and  enable 
them  to  wield  the  name  and  institutions  of  Christianity  against 
Christianity — including  so  much  truth  as  may  serve  to  beguile, 
but  so  little  as  cannot  avail  to  save — sustained  by  such  as  live 
in  pleasure,  and  will  not  bow  the  knee  to  Christ.     The  time 


274 

will  have  come,  when  the  light  of  science  and  of  christianity 
will  have  rendered  obsolete  the  grossness  of  idolatry,  the  im- 
posture of  Mohammed,  the  superstitions  of  popery,  and  the 
impurity  of  in6delity.  A  religion  must  rise,  therefore,  under 
the  last  touchings  and  finishings  of  art,  where  infidels  may  be 
received  without  conversion  ;  and  where  they  may  be  con- 
verted with  scarce  a  perceptible  change  in  doctrine,  heart,  or 
life ;  and  where,  as  in  papal  countries,  the  thoughtless,  and 
the  gay,  and  the  beautiful,  and  the  dissipated,  may  float  to- 
gether down  the  stream,  to  the  sounds  of«lft]sic,  and  drink 
the  lethean  cup,  and  wake  not  till  their  redemption  has  ceased 
for  ever.  All  this  abomination  of  desolation  is  predicted,  as 
attending  the  last  triumphs  of  pure  Christianity.  "  And  he 
said,  Go  thy  way,  Daniel  :  for  the  words  are  closed  up  and 
sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end.  Many  shall  be  purified,  and 
made  white,  and  tried  ;  but  the  wicked  shall  do  wickedly  : 
and  none  of  the  wicked  shall  understand  ;  but  the  wise  shall 
understand." 

7.  One  other  source  of  opposition  to  the  progress  of  vital 
Christianity  remains  to  be  mentioned.  There  may  be  an  at- 
tempt to  wield  the  church  against  herself,  by  corrupting  the 
purity  of  revivals  of  religion.  Terrible,  by  the  power  of 
revivals,  as  an  army  with  banners,  her  victory  is  secure,  unless 
fanaticism  can  be  substituted  for  pure  religion,  and  her  com- 
pact masses  be  broken  and  scattered  by  the  commotion  of 
unhallowed  passions  within.  In  this  manner  was  the  glory  of 
the  Reformation  eclipsed,  and  vital  religion,  in  the  time  of 
Cromwell,  made  a  scoff  and  a  by-word.  The  same  attempt 
was  made  in  New  England  early  in  the  days  of  our  fathers. 
It  was  repeated  in  the  time  of  Whitefield  and  the  immortal 
Edwards,  with  lamentable,  though  with  but  partial  success. 
As  revivals  shall  become  more  extensive,  and  the  Spirit  of 
God  shall  awaken  larger  portions  of  the  community  at  once, 
opportunity  will  be  afforded  to  the  enemy — and,  apprised  of 
his  devices,  we  ought  not  to  think  that  the  opportunity  will  be 
neglected — of  mingling  false  fire  with  holy  zeal,  for  the  pur- 


275 

pose  of  throwing  discredit  upon  a  work  which  threatens  a 
speedy  overthrow  of  his  empire. 

All  these  great  divisions  of  systematic  opposition  to  the 
Gospel  have,  where  circumstances  allowed,  been  defended 
by  the  sword.  Christianity,  in  her  first  attempts  to  disen- 
thral the  world,  met  the  storms  of  ten  persecutions,  protract- 
ed through  a  period  of  three  hundred  years. 

The  false  prophet  established,  and  still  maintains,  his 
empire  by  force.  It  is  death  to  turn  from  JMohammed  to 
Jesus  Christ.  And  as  to  Popery,  in  her  dominions,  all  the 
wiles  and  corruptions  of  idolatry  and  imposture  have  been 
condensed  and  wielded  wItR  infernal  wisdom  and  malignity 
against  the  Gospel,  ever  since  the  apocalyptic  kings  gave 
their  power  to  the  beast.  And  when  atheism,  for  a  little 
moment,  abolished  popery,  its  terrific  power  was,  at  the 
same  moment,  directed  W'ith  indiscriminate  fury  against 
Christianity.  The  Bible  was  burnt :  the  Sabbath  blotted 
out :  the  existence  of  God  denied  :  and  death  proclaimed  an 
eternal  sleep. 

The  Arian  heresy,  protected  by  the  sword,  wielded 
against  the  truth  a  furious  persecution.  In  Holland,  Armi- 
nius  attempted  to  enlist  both  hterature  and  the  civil  arm  for 
the  propagation  of  his  sentiments,  and,  to  some  extent,  suc- 
ceeded. At  Geneva,  the  enemies  of  evangelical  sentiment, 
as  appears  from  recent  events,  do  not  rely  on  charity,  and 
enlightened  reason,  and  liberty  of  conscience  ;  but  upon  the 
civil  power,  to  protect  them  in  their  usurpations,  and  to  keep 
back  the  truth. 

And  now,  can  such  varied  and  mighty  resistance  be  over- 
come ?  Can  the  earth  be  enlightened  ?  Can  the  nations  be 
disenthralled  ?  Can  the  w^hole  creation,  which  has  groaned 
and  travailed  together  in  pain  until  now,  be  brought  out  of 
bondage  into  glorious  liberty  f  Yes  :  all  this  can  be  done, 
and  will  be  done.     Our  next  inquiry  then  is, 

By  what  means  shall  events  so  desirable  be  ac- 
complished .'' 


276 

First — By  the  judgments  of  heaven,  in  which  the  Son  of 
Man  will  come  upon  the  strong  man  armed,  and  take  away 
his  armor. 

Secondly — By  the  universal  propagation  of  the  Gospel ; 
before  the  light  of  which,  idolatry,  imposture,  and  superstition, 
will  retreat  abashed.     And, 

Thirdly — By  frequent,  and,  at  last,  general  revivals  of 
religion  ;  giving  resisdess  power  to  the  Gospel,  as  it  is  preach- 
ed to  every  creature. 

Then  will  come  to  pass  that  which  is  written.  Great 
voices  will  be  heard  in  heaven,  saying.  The  kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  become  the  kvngdojn'b  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ :  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  of  mighty  thun- 
derings,  saying.  Alleluia  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth. 

It  is  manifest  from  prophecy,  and  clearly  to  be  anticipated 
from  the  existing  state  of  the  world,  that  great  commotions 
and  distress  of  nations  will  exist,  antecedent  to  the  spiritual, 
universal  reign  of  Christ  on  the  earth.  Some  have  supposed 
that  these  calamities  will  fall  alike  upon  the  church  and  the 
world  ;  that  as  yet  the  witnesses  are  to  be  slain  ;  and  that, 
for  three  years  at  least,  Christianity  will  seem  to  be  blotted 
from  the  earth.  Whereas,  manifestly,  the  judgments  which 
are  to  precede  the  glory  of  the  latter  day,  are  to  fall  almost 
exclusively  upon  antichristian  nations.  And  if  the  witnesses 
are  yet  to  be  slain,  they  are  to  be  slain  in  the  street  of  that 
great  city,  which,  spiritually,  is  called  "  Sod£)m  and  Egypt" — 
prophetic  symbols,  which  have  been  understood  to  designate 
countries  subject  to  the  dominion  of  antichrist.  The  very  strug- 
gle to  suppress  vital  Christianity  in  papal  countries,  called  the 
slaying  of  the  witnesses,  may  be,  and  probably  will  be,  the  re- 
sult of  moral  causes  now  in  powerful  operation.  Science,  and 
commerce,  and  the  progress  of  evangelical  religion,  are  fast 
apprising  mankind  of  their  rights,  and  awakening  the  desire 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  '  And  this  slaying  of  the  wit- 
nesses may  be  the  last  struggle  of  those  despotisms,  to  arrest 


277 

the  march  of  truth  and  freedom.  It  may  be  the  collision  be- 
tween light  and  darkness — between  despotism  and  liberty — 
which  shall  call  out  the  kings  of  the  earth  to  the  battle  of  the 
great  day  of  God  Almighty  ;  when  he,  whose  eyes  are  as  a 
flame  of  fire,  on  whose  head  are  many  crowns,  and  whose 
vesture  is  dipped  in  blood,  shall  smite  the  nations  with  the 
sword  that  goeth  out  of  his  mouth,  and  rule  them  with  a  rod 
of  iron,  and  tread  the  wine-press  of  the  fierceness  and  wrath 
of  Almighty  God  ;  when  the  angel  standing  in  the  sun,  shall 
summon  the  fowls  of  the  heavens  to  the  supper  of  the  great 
God — to  eat  the  flesh  of  kings,  and  of  captains,  and  of 
mighty  men.* 

But  without  attempting  a  minute  exposition  of  prophecy, 
nothing  is  more  plainly  revealed,  than  the  visitation  of  the 
earth  with  unparalleled  judgments  and  revolutions,  prepara- 
tory to  tliat  state  of  light  and  peace  which  is  to  bless  the 
world.  So  long  as  Satan  can  wield  the  power  of  despotic 
governments  against  the  truth,  he  can  hold  his  goods  in 
peace.  But  these  defences  a  stronger  than  he  will  take 
away,  when,  in  awful  judgments,  he  shall  come  upon  him. 
"  He  shall  overturn,  and  overturn,  until  He,  whose  right  it  is, 
shall  reign.  The  day  of  vengeance  is  in  his  heart,  because 
the  year  of  his  redeemed  is  come.  The  foundations  of  the 
earth  do  shake  ;  the  earth  is  utterly  broken  down  ;  the  earth 
is  clean  dissolved  ;  the  earth  is  moved  exceedingly  ;  the  earth 
shall  reel  to  and  fro  j  and  the  Lord  shall  punish  the  host  of 
the  high  ones  that  are  on  high,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth 
upon  the  earth  ;  and  they  shall  be  gathered  together  as  pris- 
oners are  gathered  in  the  pit ;  and  shall  be  shut  up  in  the 
prison.  Then  the  moon  shall  be  confounded,  and  the  sun 
shall  be  ashamed,  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  reign  in  Mount 
Zion,  and  in  Jerusalem,  and  before  his  ancients  gloriously. 
And  the  seventh  angel  poured  out  his  vial  into  the  air  ;  and 
there  were  voices,  and  thunderings,  and  lightnings,  and  there 

*  Rev.  xix.  17,  18. 

36 


278 

was  a  great  earthquake,  such  as  was  not  since  men  were 
upon  the  earth,  so  mighty  an  earthquake  and  so  great." 

One  of  these  moral  earthquakes  has  ah-eady  shaken  Eu- 
rope to  its  centre  ;  and  the  thunderings  and  heavings  of  the 
unquiet  earth  proclaim,  that  one  wo  is  past,  and  behold, 
another  wo  cometh  quickly. 

When  these  systems  of  physical  resistance  are  destroyed, 
then  will  tiie  time  have  come  to  extend  the  institutions  of  the 
Gospel  throughout  the  world.  Benevolence,  like  the  air, 
will  move  to  fill  up  the  vacuum.  Like  the  light  from  its 
great  fountain,  it  will  fly  to  cheer  the  nations  who  sit  in 
darkness.  And  having  no  resistance  to  encounter,  but  the 
simple  power  of  error,  the  conflict  will  be  but  momentary, 
and  the  victory  complete.  This  also  is  in  accordance  with 
prophecy  :  for  immediately  after  the  downfall  of  Babylon  is 
announced,  all  heaven  breaks  forth  in  ecstacy,  saying.  Let 
us  rejoice  and  give  honor  to  him,  for  the  marriage  of  the 
Lamb  is  come,  and  his  ivife  hath  made  herself  ready.  The 
church  of  Christ  is  called  his  bride  ;  and  the  conversion  of 
the  nations  to  Christianity  and  to  God,  the  day  of  her  es- 
pousals. 

That  this  glorious  victory  is  to  be  consummated  by  the  spe- 
cial influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  equally  manifest.  The 
simple  presence  of  Christianity  would  no  more  convert  the 
heathen,  than  it  converts  those  where  it  already  exists. 
Were  every  family  on  earth  now  blessed  with  a  Bible  and  a 
pastor,  these,  without  the  effusions  of  the  Spirit,  would  not 
maintain  upon  the  earth  an  uncorrupt  nominal  Christianity,  for 
one  hundred  years.  Revivals  of  religion  are  alone  adequate 
to  the  moral  reformation  of  the  world.  All  other  means — 
science,  legislation,  philosophy,  eloquence,  and  argument — 
have  been  relied  on  in  vain.  The  disease  is  of  the  heart, 
and  they  reach  it  not.  But  revivals  touch  the  deep  springs 
of  human  action,  and  give  tone  and  energy  to  the  moral 
government  of  God.  They  multiply  families  that  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  train  up  children  in  his  fear,  and 


279 

churches,  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ  to  propagate  the 
Gospel.  They  elevate  the  standard  of  liberality,  and  aug- 
ment the  capital  which  is  consecrated  to  the  renovation  of 
the  world,  and  the  importunity  of  prayer  which  secures  its 
application  and  efficacy.  They  multiply  the  host  of  evan- 
gelical ministers  and  missionaries.  They  repress  crime,  and 
purify  the  public  morality,  and  breathe  into  legislation  and 
the  intercourse  of  nations  that  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  which 
shall  banish  wars,  and  introduce  peace  upon  earth  and  good- 
will towards  men.  They  pour  day-light  upon  darkness,  and 
destroy,  with  a  touch,  the  power  of  sophistry.  Hence  no- 
thing is  so  terrible  to  the  enemies  of  evangelical  truth  as  re- 
vivals of  religion,  because  nothing  is  so  irresistible.  If  they 
oppose  them  by  violence,  they  move  on.  If  they  misrepre- 
sent them,  they  move  on.  If  they  ridicule  them,  they  move 
on.  If  they  imitate  them,  the  imitation  fails,  and  they  move  on. 
While,  often,  the  chosen  vessels  of  opposition  fall  under  their 
power — sending  panic  and  rage  through  the  ranks  of  the 
enemy.  ^Jt  is  owing  to  this  power  of  revivals,  that  they  are 
every  where,  by  the  wicked,  so  much  spoken  against ;  and 
all  the  infirmities  of  humanity,  which  attend  them,  gathered 
up  with  such  exultation,  and  urged  as  confirmation  strong, 
that  they  are  the  work  of  man,  and  not  the  work  of  God.\  It 
is  reserved,  therefore,  for  revivals  of  religion  to  follow  in'^the 
train  of  the  means  of  grace  with*  increasing  frequency  and 
power,  until  a  nation  shall  be  born  in  a  day.  This  also  is 
predicted. — "  Who  art  thou,  O  mountain,  before  Zerubba- 
bel  ?  Thou  shalt  become  a  plain.  Not  by  might,  nor  by 
power,  but  by  my  Spirit  saith  the  Lord.  Drop  down,  ye  heav- 
ens, from  above,  and  let  the  skies  pour  down  righteousness. 
I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods  upon 
the  dry  ground.  It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  saith 
God,  that  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.  •  And 
then  shall  that  wicked  be  revealed,  whom  the  Lord  shall 
consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth  and  shall  destroy  with 
the  brightness  of  his  coming." 


280 

The  judgments  which  are  to  shake  down  antichristian  em- 
pires, and  cast  down  high  imaginations,  and  lay  open  the 
world  to  the  entrance  of  truth  and  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  are 
to  be  closely  associated  with  a  new  and  unparalleled  vigor  of 
christian  enterprise.  Until  now,  the  church  will  have  been 
the  assailed  party,  and  stood  upon  the  defensive  :  but  hence- 
forth the  word  of  command  will  not  be,  Stand,  but  March. 
The  gates  of  the  holy  city  will  be  thrown  open  ;  the  tide  of 
war  will  be  rolled  upon  the  enemy  ;  and  one  shall  chase  a 
thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight. 

The  means  and  efforts  for  evangelizing  the  world  must 
correspond,  however,  with  the  magnitude  of  the  result.  The 
idea  that  God  will  convert  the  heathen  in  his  own  good  time, 
and  that  christians  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  pray  and  de- 
voutly wait,  is  found  in  no  canonical  book.  It  is  the  maxim 
of  covetousness,  and  sloth,  and  uncaring  infidelity.  We 
have  no  authority  for  saying,  what  some,  without  due  con- 
sideration, have  said,  that  God,  if  he  pleased,  could  doubtless 
in  a  moment  convert  the  whole  heathen  world  without  the 
Gospel.  It  jiiight  as  well  be  said,  that  he  can,  if  he  please, 
burn  without  fire,  or  drown  without  water,  or  give  breath 
without  atmosphere,  as  that  he  can  instruct  intellectual  beings 
wuhout  the  means  of  knowledge,  and  influence  moral  beings 
without  law  and  motive,  and  thus  reclaim  an  alienated  world 
without  the  knowledge  and  moral  power  of  the  Gospel.  It 
is  no  derogation  from  the  power  of  God,  that,  to  produce  re- 
sults, it  must  be  exerted  by  means  adapted  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  things  which  himself  has  established.  God  has  no 
set  time  to  favor  the  husbandman,  but  when  he  is  diligent  in 
business  ;  and  no  set  time  to  favor  Zion,  but  when  her  ser- 
vants favor  her  stones  and  take  pleasure  in  the  dust  thereof. 
From  the  beginning,  the  cause  of  God  on  earth  has  been 
maintained  and  carried  forward  only  by  the  most  heroic 
exertion.  Christianity,  even  in  the  age  of  miracles,  was 
not  propagated  but  by  stupendous  efforts.  And  it  is  only 
by   a   revival   of  primitive    zeal   and    enterprise,    that    the 


281 

glorious  things  spoken  of  the  city  of  our  God  can  be 
accomplished. 

Nor  need  we  be  disheartened.  We  possess  a  thousand 
fold  the  advantage  of  apostles  and  primitive  christians  for  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel.  And  shall  the  whole  church  on 
earth — shall  the  thousand  thousands  who  now  profess  the 
pure  religion,  be  dismayed  and  paralyzed  at  an  enterprise, 
which  had  once  been  well  nigh  accomplished  by  the  energies 
of  twelve  men  ? 

But  what  can  be  done  ?  It  would  require  ten  discourses 
to  answer  this  question  in  detail.  We  can  only  sketch  the 
outlines  of  that  moral  array,  by  which  Jesus  Christ  is  pre- 
paring to  come  upon  the  strong  man,  and  overcome  him, 
and  take  from  him  all  his  armour. 

1.  There  must  be  more  faith  in  the  church  of  God. 

All  the  uncertainties  and  waverings  of  unbelief  must  be 
swept  away  by  the  power  of  that  faith,  which  is  the  substance 
of  things  hoped  for  and  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen. 

Those  "  scenes  surpassing  fable,"  when  Satan  shall  be 
bound,  and  an  emancipated  world  shall  sing  hosanna  to  the 
Son  of  David,  must  rise  up  before  us  in  all  the  freshness  and 
inspiration  of  a  glorious  reality.  Such  faith,  and  only  such, 
will  achieve  again  the  wonders  it  wrought  in  other  days.  It 
has  lost  none  of -its  power.  Again,  it  will  subdue  kingdoms, 
work  righteousness,  obtain  promises,  stop  the  mouths  of  lions, 
quench  the  violence  of  fire,  escape  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
out  of  weakness  become  strong,  wax  valiant  in  fight,  and  put 
to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens.  For  this  is  the  victory 
over  the  world,  even  your  faith. 

2.  There  must  be  a  more  intense  love  for  Christ  in  his 
church. 

Such  love  as  now  burns  dimly  in  the  hearts  of  christians  j 
a  low,  and  languid,  and  wavering  affection  ;  halting  between 
the  opposing  attractions  of  earth  and  heaven  ;  may  answer 
for  standing  upon  the  defensive,  but  never  for  making  that 
vigorous  onset  which  shall  subdue  the  world  to  Christ.     Ef- 


282 

fort  will  never  surpass  desire.  And  as  yet  our  hearts  are 
not  equal  to  those  efforts  needed  for  the  achievement  of  victo- 
ry. They  linger  and  look  hack  upon  the  world.  They  hes- 
itate, and  slowly,  and  with  a  sigh,  part  with  substance  in 
penurious  measure.  Weight  hangs  as  yet  on  the  wheels  of 
the  Victor's  chariot :  and  never,  on  earth,  as  in  heaven,  will 
it  move, 

"  Instinct  with  spirit, 
Flasliing  thick  flames,  ....  unless 
Attended  by  ten  thousand  thousand  saints." 

3.  There  must  come  an  era  of  more  decided  action,  before 
the  earth  can  be  subdued  to  Christ. 

Compared  with  the  exigency,  we  have  not,  as  yet,  the 
semblance  of  an  army  in  the  field ;  and  our  munitions  are 
yet  to  be  collected.  Two  hundred  souls  constitute  the  entire 
force,  which  twelve  millions  of  freemen,  cheered  and  blessed 
with  the  light  of  the  Gospel,  have  sent  forth  to  bring  the 
world  out  of  bondage.  And  yet  one  half  the  nation  is  panic- 
struck  at  the  drafts  thus  made  upon  her  resources !  What 
has  been  done,  however,  is  but  mere  skirmishing  before  the 
shock  of  battle.  Half  the  subjects  of  Satan's  dark  empire  on 
earth  have  not  heard,  as  yet,  that  we  have  a  being.  And 
were  none  but  such  feeble  efforts  to  be  put  forth,  he,  instead 
of  coming  down  in  great  wrath,  would  keep  his  temper,  and 
leave  the  war  to  his  subalterns. 

Nothing  great  on  earth,  good  or  bad,  was  ever  accomplish- 
ed without  decisive  action.  The  cause,  in  the  moral  world, 
as  really  as  in  the  natural,  must  ever  be  proportioned  to  the 
effect  to  be  produced.  And  what  have  we  done,  as  yet,  to 
justify  the  expectation,  that  God,  by  such  means,  is  about  to 
make  all  things  new '^  Could  our  independence  have  been 
achieved  by  such  indecisive  actions  as  we  put  forth  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  world  ^  Dear  brethren,  we  must  fix  our 
eye  earnestly  on  a  world  lying  in  wickedness  :  our  hearts 
must  be  fully  set  upon  its  deliverance  :  our  hands  must  bo 
opened  wide  for  its  relief.     Not  only  the  ministers  of  religion 


283 

must  give  tliemselves  wholly  to  this  work  ;  but  all  who  prize 
civil  and  religious  freedom — all  who  exult  in  these  blessings 
must  come  forth  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty. 
And  when,  to  all  who  arc  now  cheered  by  the  light  of  reve- 
lation, the  deliverance  of  a  world  in  bondage  shall  become 
the  all-absorbing  object,  and  the  concentrating  point  of  holy 
enterprise  ;  then  speedily  will  the  angel  descend  from  heaven, 
with  a  great  chain,  to  bind  and  cast  into  the  bottomless  pit 
him  who  through  so  many  ages  has  deceived  the  nations. 
But, 

4.  For  this  glorious  achievement,  there  is  demanded  more 
courage  than  has,  in  modern  days,  been  manifested  by  the 
church  of  God. 

Wherever  circumstances  have  precluded  the  application  of 
force  for  the  defence  of  his  cause,  there  the  god  of  this  world 
has  attempted  to  fortify  it  by  a  perverted  public  sentiment. 
This,  while  it  predominates,  is  as  terrific  as  the  inquisition ; 
and  if  not  as  bloody,  it  is  unquestionably  as  virulent,  over- 
bearing, and  severe.  Multitudes  shrink  before  it,  who  would 
not  hesitate  to  storm  the  deadly  breach  ;  and  one  half  the 
power  of  the  christian  church  is  doubtless  this  very  moment 
paralyzed  by  it,  if  not  even  arrayed  by  its  influence  against 
the  cause  of  Christ.  Fashion  is  the  Juggernaut  of  christian 
lands ;  around  whose  car  pilgrims  of  all  conditions  gather, 
and  do  homage. 

Here,  then,  in  communities  civilized  and  nominally  chris- 
tian, is  to  be  fought  one  of  the  keenest  battles :  for  after  every 
strong  hold  is  demolished,  if  Satan  can  but  frame  the  laws  of 
honor  and  of  fashion,  he  will  not  fail  to  govern  by  maxims 
which  will  shut  out  the  Gospel,  and  perpetuate  the  dominion 
of  sin.  And  christians  are  the  first  to  be  emancipated. 
While  they  are  in  captivity,  the  world  will  be  in  chains. 
Jesus  Christ  must  have  entire  possession  of  his  own  soldiers, 
before  the  armies  of  the  livijng  God  can  put  to  flight  the  ar- 
mies of  the  aliens. 

This  conflict  for  dominion  over  public  sentiment  is  coming 


284 

on,  and  by  this  generation,  in  city  and  In  country,  it  is  to  be 
decided,  whether  an  evangelical  or  a  worldly  influence  shall 
prevail — whether  the  landmarks  of  christian  morality  shall 
stand  against  the  inundations  of  vice,  or,  with  every  thing  that 
is  pure,  and  lovely,  and  of  good  report,  be  swept  away. 
Emboldened  by  the  pusillanimity  of  the  friends  of  virtue,  the 
enemy  have  become  audacious,  and  scarcely  covet  the  veil 
of  darkness,  but  seem  even  to  glory  in  their  shame.  And  if 
no  stand  is  made,  we  are  undone.  The  church  in  this  land 
will  go  into  captivity,  and  the  nation  is  undone.  Our  pros- 
perity and  voluptuousness  will  be  our  ruin  ;  and  short  and 
rapid  will  be  our  journey  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  But 
if  resistance  is  made,  then  will  the  waves  rise,  and  foam,  and 
roar,  and  dash  furiously  upon  those  who  shall  dare  to  make  a 
stand  :  and  birds  of  iU  omen  will  flap  their  sooty  wings,  and 
croak,  and  scream,  to  intimidate  and  dishearten  the  fearful, 
and  the  unbelieving  :  and  all  the  engines  of  bad  influence  will 
be  applied  to  prevent  that  coalition  of  patriotism  and  of  vir- 
tue, which  would  set  bounds  to  the  encroachments  of  evil, 
and  shed  day-light  upon  the  works  of  darkness,  and  stamp 
with  indelible  and  intolerable  infamy,  wickedness  in  high 
places  and  in  low  places. 

And  now,  custom,  with  silver  tongue,  will  plead  prescrip- 
tion— '  It  always  has  been  so,  and  always  will  be,  and  why 
should  we  attempt  innovation  ?'  And  interest,  too,  will  plead 
necessity — '  How  can  I  withdraw  my  capital,  or  alter  my 
course  ?  To  refuse  to  do  wrong  a  little,  would  be  to  take 
away  my  children's  bread.'  And  now,  difficulty,  with  good 
wishes  and  sorrowing  face,  will  plead,  '  Spare  thy  servant  in 
this  thing — is  it  not  a  little  one?'  While /ear  will  see  the 
giants,  the  sons  of  Anak,  and  call  out  for  care,  and  prudence, 
lest  we  should  act  prematurely,  or  be  righteous  overmuch. 
Petulance,  too,  will  lift  up  her  voice,  with  vexation  at  our 
presumptuous  meddling,  wondering  that  we  cannot  mind  our 
own  affairs,  and  let  other  people  alone.  And  even  charity, 
so    called,    will   draw  aside   her  veil,    for  the   archers  with 


285 

poisoned  arrows  lo  hit  us.  While  liberality,  provoked  be- 
yond endurance,  will  hail  upon  our  heads  the  hard  names  of 
*  bigot,  enthusiast,  fanatic,  hypocrite,' 

All  this,  however,  we  could  easily  sustain,  were  there  no 
treachery  within.  But  our  hearts  are  yet  in  too  close  con- 
sultation with  flesh  and  blood.  '  What  will  the  world  think  ? 
What  will  the  world  say  ?  How  will  it  affect  my  reputation 
— my  interest — my  ambition — or  even  my  usefulness  ? — 
Suppose  I  step  in  as  a  kind  of  candid  mediator  between  the 
world  and  my  too  zealous  brethren,  taking  the  prudent  course, 
and  not  carrying  matters  too  far  .^'  O,  that  prudent  course, 
— that  middle  ground — so  crowded,  when  the  lines  are  draw- 
ing between  Christ  and  the  world  !  Satan  desires  no  better 
troops  than  neutral  christians.  And  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
abhors  none  more.  He  prefers  infidelity  to  lukewarm  Chris- 
tianity. "  T  would  that  thou  wert  either  cold  or  hot ;  so  then 
because  thou  art  neither,  1  will  spew  thee  out  of  my  mouth." 

As  to  cheating  Satan  out  of  his  empire  over  men,  by  a 
reserved  course  of  warfare,  he  has  no  objection  that  chris- 
tians should  dream  about  it,  and  try  it.  But  we  mistake,  if 
we  suppose  our  wisdom  a  match  for  his  wiles  j  or  that  we 
can  so  prudently  drive  him  out  of  this  world,  as  that  he 
will  find  no  pretext  for  controversy.  Whenever  we  do 
enough  to  give  to  religion  a  solemn  reality  upon  the  minds 
of  men,  and  draw  the  cords  of  evangehcal  morality  with 
such  power,  as  shall  compel  reformation,  or  inflict  disgrace  ; 
we  must  calculate  to  meet  his  resistance  who  reigns  in  the 
hearts  of  the  children  of  disobedience.  And  the  time  will 
come,  when  men  must  take  sides.  For  as  the  conflict  be- 
tween virtue  and  vice  waxes  warm,  neither  side  will  tolerate 
neutrality  :  and  he  who  plants  his  foot  upon  neutral  ground, 
will  select  just  the  hottest  place  in  the  battle,  and  receive  the 
fire  from  both  sides. 

Two  things  are  required  of  all  who  would  be  found  on  the 
side  of  liberty  and  evangelical  morality.  One  is,  that  we 
will  not  do  wrong  in  obedience  to  custom  :  the  other  is,  that 
37 


286 

we  will  not  be  accessary  to  the  wrong  done  by  others — ^that 
we  will  give  to  the  cause  of  virtue  the  testimony  of  correct 
opinions,  the  power  of  a  correct  example,  and  the  influence 
of  our  inflexible  patronage.  There  are  piety  and  principle 
enough  in  the  community  to  put  down  the  usurpations  of  ir- 
religion  and  crime,  if  the  sound  part  of  the  community  will 
only  awake,  and  array  itself  on  the  side  of  purity  and  order. 
But  we  must  come  out  and  be  separate,  and  touch  not  the 
unclean  thing.  The  entire  capital  in  the  hands  of  honest 
and  moral  men,  which  is  employed  in  establishments  that 
corrupt  society,  must  be  withdrawn  ;  and  that  patronage 
which  has  swelled  the  revenue  of  establishments  that  lend 
their  aid  to  the  cause  of  licentiousness,  must  be  turned  over 
to  the  side  of  purity  and  order.  Until  this  is  done,  we  shall 
not  cease  to  be  partakers  in  other  men's  sins.  The  press, 
that  mighty  engine  of  good  or  evil  in  a  free  country,  must  be 
enlisted  decisively  on  the  side  of  virtue ;  and  its  perverted 
influence,  if  it  continue,  must  be  sustained  only  by  those 
whose  guilty  cause  it  espouses.  We  cannot,  as  christians — 
we  cannot,  as  patriots — give  our  patronage  to  that  press 
which  will  not  plead  the  cause  of  virtue,  and  which  will  pros- 
titute its  fearful  energies  to  the  cause  of  sin. 

5.  There  must  be  new  and  more  vigorous  efforts  to  increase 
the  number  and  power  of  evangelical  churches  in  our  land. 

In  all  countries  the  tone  of  piety  and  evangelical  morality 
corresponds  exactly  with  the  number,  and  purity,  and  energy 
of  the  churches  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  want  of-  this 
organized  moral  power  in  many  parts  of  our  land  is  appalling. 
Our  population  multiplies,  and  the  ratio  of  good  moral  influ- 
ence declines,  and  ignorance  and  crime  are  coming  in  like  a 
flood.  All  that  has  been  done  by  Tract  Societies,  by  Sab- 
bath Schools,  by  Education  Societies,  and  by  the  National 
Society  for  Domestic  Missions,  is  as  the  drop  of  the  bucket 
to  the  ocean.  A  new  and  mighty  effort  is  demanded  to  send 
light  through  the  territories  of  darkness — to  repress  crime, 
and  perpetuate  our  civil  and  religious  institutions.  In  our 
large  cities,  especially,  is  the  increase  of  ignorance  and  licen- 


287 

tiousuess  lamentable  and  ominous.  Here  wealth  and  tempta- 
tion concentrate  their  power  upon  masses  of  mind,  whose  in- 
fluence cannot  fail  to  affect  deeply  the  destiny  of  the  nation. 
If  they  send  out  a  vigorous  current  of  healthful  life-blood,  the 
whole  nation  will  feel  the  renovating  influence  :  but  if,  with 
every  pulsation,  they  send  out  iniquity  and  death,  no  power 
on  earth  can  avert  our  doom. 

A  moral  power  is  the  only  influence  that  can  save  our  cities. 
Mere  coercion  in  a  land  of  freemen,  will  not  avail.  Nor  will 
a  lax  nominal  Christianity  suffice,  where  offenders  may  find 
access  to  the  table  of  Christ,  and  protection  by  the  horns  of 
the  altar.  The  new  churches,  to  succeed,  should  be  com- 
posed of  persons  of  real  piety,  of  kindred  sentiment,  and  of 
decided  character;  and,  from  the  beginning,  consist  of  so 
many  members,  and  be  blessed  with  such  talent  and  devoted 
piety  in  the  ministry,  and  be  so  countenanced  and  sustained 
by  other  churches,  as  that  their  attraction  shall  not  fail  to 
bring  under  the  sacred  influence  of  the  Gospel  the  surround- 
ing community.  Until  our  cities  shall  thus  be  made  to  feel, 
in  every  part,  the  purifying  power  of  the  Gospel,  the  whole 
land  will  continue  to  send  to  them,  as  it  has  done,  hecatombs 
of  youthful  victims,  to  be  repaid  by  disappointed  hopes  and 
moral  contamination. 

6.  Special  effort  is  required,  to  secure  to  the  rising  gene- 
ration an  education  free  from  the  influence  of  bad  example, 
and  more  decidedly  evangelical. 

The  atmosphere  which  our  children  breathe,  from  the  cra- 
dle upward,  should  be  pure.  Instead  of  this,  it  would  not  be 
difficult  to  find  common  schools,  in  which  ignorance  and  irre- 
ligion  predominate.  Even  where  the  intellect  is  cultivated, 
the  heart  not  unfrequently  is  corrupted,  and  the  child  made 
wise  only  to  do  evil.  In  a  great  proportion  of  the  higher 
schools,  to  which  christians  send  their  children,  little  exists  of 
a  decidedly  religious  tendency  j  while  in  some,  a  powerful 
influence  is  exerted  against  evangelical  sentiments  and  piety. 

And  though  in  many  of  our  colleges  there  is  a  salutary 
religious  influence,  and  repeated  revivals  of  religion  are  enjoy- 


288 

ed,  in  none  is  the  influence  of  religion  so  decisive  as  it  might 
be  ;  while  in  some,  to  which  pious  parents  send  their  children, 
the  influence  is  directly  and  powerfully  hostile  to  religion. 

I  am  aware,  that  not  a  few  regard  religious  influence  in 
our  colleges  as  already  too  great,  and  that  an  effort  is  making 
to  separate  religion  from  science,  during  the  progress  of  a 
collegiate  education.  And  those  who  choose  to  rear  col- 
leges, and  send  their  offspring  where  the  power  of  the  Gospel 
shall  be  excluded,  have,  doubtless,  a  right  to  do  so — answer- 
able for  their  conduct  only  to  God.  But  no  christian  can 
do  this  without  violating  the  vows  of  God  which  are  upon  him, 
to  train  up  his  child  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord.  And,  instead  of  a  compromise  in  the  evangelical 
colleges  of  our  land,  there  should  be,  as  easily  there  may  be, 
a  more  decided  tone  of  religious  influence.  Our  colleges 
should  every  one  of  them  be  blessed,  not  only  with  preaching, 
but  with  kind,  discreet,  and  assiduous  pastoral  instruction  and 
care.  Why  should  these  precious  communities  of  inexperi- 
enced youtb,  separated  from  parental  inspection,  and  exposed 
to  peculiar  temptation,  be  deprived  of  the  watchful  eye  und 
parental  voice  of  pastoral  exhortation  and  advice  .'*  What 
parent  would  not  pray  with  more  faith,  and  sleep  more  quietly, 
if  he  knew  that  some  one,  acquainted  with  the  youthful  heart, 
and  appointed  to  watch  over  his  child,  had  gained  his  confidence 
and  affection,  and  was  praying  and  laboring  for  his  salvation  ? 

There  is  no  period  in  life  when  the  heart  may  be  more 
successfully  assailed,  than  that  which  is  passed  in  a  college. 
And  there  is  no  class  of  human  beings,  among  whom  revivals 
may  be  promoted,  by  proper  pastoral  attention,  with  greater 
certainty,  or  with  greater  power  and  glory.  Nor  can  it  be 
expected,  that  the  church  will  ever  look  forth  fair  as  the 
morning,  until  effectual  care  is  taken,  that  in  her  higher 
schools  and  colleges,  her  children  shall  be  induced  to  conse- 
crate to  God  the  dew  of  their  youth. 

7.  The  vigor  of  charitable  effort  must  be  greatly  increased. 

As  long  as  rich  men  shall  trust  more  in  uncertain  riches 
than  in  the  living  God,   and  the   covetous  shall  dare  to  heap 


289 

up  treasures  to  themselves,  consecrating  to  God  scarcely  the 
crumbs  that  fall  from  their  table,  and  the  ambitious  shall 
insist  that  they  will  roll  in  splendor,  and  give  only  the  pittance 
which  can  be  spared  from  the  expense  of  a  wanton  ostenta- 
tion— as  long  as  professors  shall  consume,  in  extra  gratifica- 
tions of  sense,  to  the  injury  of  health,  sums  that,  if  consecrated 
to  Christ,  might  suffice  to  extend  the  word  of  life  and  the 
institutions  of  the  Gospel  all  over  the  world — as  long  as  avari- 
cious christians  shall  so  extend  their  plans  of  business,  with 
the  increase  of  their  capital,  as  always  to  be  straitened  in  the 
midst  of  their  gains — and  as  long  as  parents  shall  labor  to 
amass  wealth  for  their  offspring,  only  to  paralyze  their  enter- 
prise, and  corrupt  their  morals,  and  ensure  their  ruin, — so 
long  the  cause  of  God  on  earth  must  move  slowly.  But  the 
blame  must  rest  on  us.  There  is  at  this  moment,  in  the 
hands  of  christians,  capital  enough  to  evangelize  the  world  in 
a  short  period  of  time,  and  without  the  retrenchment  of  a 
single  comfort,  and  only  by  the  consecration  to  Christ  of 
substance,  the  possession  of  which  would  be  useless,  and  often 
injurious.  It  is  not  required  of  christian  nations  to  sustain 
the  entire  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  all  the  unevan- 
gelized  population  of  the  earth.  Nothing  is  needed  but  to 
erect  the  standard  in  pagan  lands — to  plant  the  seed — to 
deposit  the  leaven,  in  schools  and  in  churches,  until  each 
nation  shall  support  Gospel  institutions.  This  is  the  work  to 
which  God  in  his  providence  is  calling  the  churches.  Now, 
and  for  fifty  years  to  come,  the  substance  and  enterprise  of 
good  men  is  imperiously  demanded.  Within  that  period,  it  is 
not  improbable,  that  every  nation  may  be  so  far  evangehzed, 
as  that  the  work  may  move  onward  to  its  consummation,  with- 
out extraneous  aid. 

8.  The  jealousies  of  christians,  who  are  united  substan- 
tially in  their  views  of  evangelical  doctrine  and  religion,  and 
who  are  divided  only  by  localities,  and  rites,  and  forms, 
must  yield,  and  give  place  to  the  glorious  exigencies  of  the 
present  day.  The  amalgamation  of  denominations  is  not  re- 
quired.    The  division  of  labor  may  greatly    augment   the 


290 

amount ;  and  the  provocation  to  love  and  good  works  may 
be  real  and  salutary,  and  still  be  conducted  without  invidious 
collision.  Like  the  tribes  of  Israel,  we  may  all  encamp 
about  the  tabernacle  of  God — each  under  his  own  stand- 
ard— and  when  the  ark  advances,  may  all  move  onward, 
terrible  only  to  the  powers  of  darkness.  And  if  the  enemies 
of  righteousness  are  not  sufficient  to  rebuke  our  selfishness, 
and  force  us  into  a  coalition  of  love  and  good  works ;  then 
verily  it  may  be  expected — and  even  be  hoped — that  God,  by 
the  fire  of  persecution,  will  purge  away  our  dross,  and  take 
away  our  tin,  until  we  shall  love  him,  and  his  cause,  and  one 
another,  with  a  pure  heart,  fervently. 

9.  Let  me  add,  that  we  must  guard  against  the  dangers 
peculiar  to  a  state  of  religious  prosperity. 

There  is  no  condition  in  which  an  individual,  or  the 
church  at  large,  can  be  exempted  from  temptations.  And 
especially  as  the  church  shall  become  formidable,  and  bring 
upon  the  great  enemy  of  God  the  pressure  of  a  desperate 
extremity,  we  are  to  expect,  that  his  rage  will  increase,  and 
his  wiles  be  multiplied.  For  he  will  leave  the  world  only 
when  forced  ;  and  will  fight  upon  the  retreat — giving  many 
a  desperate  battle,  when  it  shall  seem  as  if  the  necessity  was 
past  of  watching  against  his  devices.  Never,  therefore,  has 
the  necessity  of  vigilance  and  prayer  been  more  imperious 
than  now.  Let  all  the  churches,  then,  with  their  pastors, 
feel  deeply  their  dependance  on  God ;  and  when  their  alms 
come  up  before  him,  and  his  Spirit  shall  descend  in  new  and 
glorious  showers,  let  them  watch  and  pray  that  they  enter 
not  into  temptation,  and  experience  an  overthrow  in  the  mo- 
ment of  victory. 

To  fear  revivals,  because  attended  by  some  indications  of 
human  imperfection,  would  be  weak  and  wicked  :  and  far 
from  the  church  of  God  be  the  presumptuous  confidence,  that 
nothing  deeply  injurious  to  the  general  interests  of  religion 
can  be  blended  with  a  real  work  of  the  Spirit.  But  though 
I  am  not  without  solicitude  on  this  head,  I  do  trust  and  ex- 
pect, that  God  will  preserve  his  churches,  and  cause  pure  re- 


291 

ligion  and  undefiled  to  prosper,  and  not  permit  the  adversary 
to  turn  our  glory  into  shame.  O,  could  he  do  it,  how  would 
his  minions  scream  out  their  joy  !  and  how  would  Zion  be 
confounded,  and  in  this  day  of  rejoicing,  be  compelled  to 
hang  her  harp  upon  the  willows,  and  sit  down  to  weep  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes  !   To  conclude. 

Will  any  of  you,  my  hearers,  in  this  glorious  day,  take  side 
against  the  cause  of  Christ !  It  will  be  a  fearful  experiment. 
What  the  mind  and  counsel  of  God  have  jjurposed  to  do  for 
the  melioration  of  man  is  now  hastening  to  its  consummation, 
with  the  intenseness  of  infinite  benevolence,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  unerring  wisdom,  and  by  the  impulse  of  almighty 
power.  And  wo  unto  him  who  contendeth  witii  his  Maker. — 
The  lines  are  now  drawing,  and  preparation  is  fast  making 
for  the  battle  of  the  great  day  of  God  Almighty.  And  who 
is  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  Who  !  Will  any  of  you,  in  this  sub- 
limely interesting  moment,  stand  on  neutral  ground  !  Re- 
member, that  neutrality  is  treason  :  and  if  persisted  in,  is  as 
fatal  as  the  unpardonable  sin.  Jesus  Christ  will  have  the  de- 
cided services  of  his  people.  Already  has  he  denounced  as 
enemies,  all  who  will  not  labor  and  suffer  for  him.  He  that 
is  not  for  me,  is  against  me  :  and  whosoever  shall  deny  me 
before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father  which  is 
in  heaven.  Think  not  that  I  came  to  send  peace  on  earth  ; 
(that  is,  that  the  progress  of  truth  will  be  without  resistance 
and  persecution  ;)  I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword. 
For  I  am  come,  (that  is,  the  effect  of  my  coming  will  be, 
as  the  Gospel  prevails,)  to  set  a  man  at  variance  against  his 
father,  and  the  daughter  against  her  mother  ;  and  a  man's 
foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household.  He  that  loveth 
father  or  mother  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me  :  and 
he  that  taketh  not  his  cross,  and,  followeth  after  me,  is  not 
worthy  of  me.  He  that  findeth  his  life,  shall  lose  it ;  and 
he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake,  shall  find  it.  These  sta- 
tutes are  not  repealed.  And  if  the  laws  of  christian  disciple- 
ship  could  bind  men  to  give  up  every  relative,  and  even  life 
itself,  for  Christ  and  his  Gospel,  no  excuse,  surely,  will  screen 


292 

from  condemnation  those  who  flinch  and  temporize,  where 
the  sacrifices  required  are  comparatively  trivial.  U  such  as 
would  not  lay  down  their  life  for  Christ,  cannot  be  accepted — 
what  will  become  of  those,  in  christian  lands,  who  will  not 
lay  down  their  substance,  nor  risk  their  reputation,  nor  lift  a 
finger,  to  advance  his  cause  ? 

Is  there  a  christian  here,  who  cannot,  for  the  year  to  come, 
double  the  amount  of  his  charities  ?  Is  there  one  who  will 
not  now  purpose  in  his  healt  to  do  it  ?  Brethren,  the  time 
is  short  in  which  we  here  have  opportunity  to  express  our 
boundless  obligations  to  the  Saviour.  The  fashion  of  the 
world  passeth  away.  Next  year,  our  tongue  may  be  employ- 
ed in  celestial  praises;  and  our  substance  be  in  other  hands. 
What  remains  then,  but  that  this  day  we  dedicate  ourselves, 
and  our  all,  anew,  to  Him,  who  washed  us  in  his  blood  ?  The 
tone  of  feeling  which  we  cherish  to-day,  may,  by  a  holy  sym- 
pathy, and  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  propagated 
through  this  great  city — through  this  powerful  nation — and 
through  the  world.  The  augmented  religious  enterprise,  to 
which  we  pledge  ourselves  this  day,  may  tell  quickly  in  the 
very  heart  of  Satan's  empire  ;  and  cause  hght  to  spring  up 
in  retreats  of  deepest  darkness. 

If  any  man,  however,  is  smitten  with  fear,  let  him  retreat. 
If  any  man  is  faint  hearted,  let  him  draw  back.  If  any  man 
tremble  at  his  proportion  of  the  charges  for  evangehzing  the 
whole  world,  let  him  depart.  If  any  man  is  alarmed  at  the 
noise  which  precedes  the  last  conflict,  let  him  hide  himself, 
with  his  talent,  in  the  earth  !  But  let  all  who  love  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  and  wait  for  his  appearing  and 
glory — give  themselves  anew  to  his  service;  and  break  the 
earthen  vessel ;  and  lift  up  their  light ;  and  shout.  The  sword 
of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon  :  and  the  victory,  and  more  than 
the  victory,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High  God.  And  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven  shall  be 
heard,  saying,  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and 
he  will  dwell  tvith  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and 
God  himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God. 


SERMON  IX. 


THE  MEMORY  OF  OUR  FATHERS. 


Revelation,  xxi.  5. 
And  he  that  sat  upon  the  throne  said,  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new. 

The  history  of  the  world  is  the  history  of  human  nature 
in  ruins.  No  state  of  society,  which  corresponds  with  the 
capacity  of  enjoyment  possessed  by  man,  or  with  his  con- 
ceptions and  desires,  has  been  permanent  and  universal. 
Small  portions  only  of  the  human  family  have,  at  the  same 
time,  enjoyed  a  state  of  society  in  any  considerable  degree 
desirable ;  while  much  the  greatest  part  of  mankind  have, 
in  all  ages,  endured  the  evils  of  barbarism  and  despotism. 

It  is  equally  manifest,  that  this  unhappy  condition  of  our 
race  has  not  been  the  result  of  physical  necessity,  but  of 
moral  causes.  The  earth  is  as  capable  of  sustaining  a  happy, 
as  a  miserable  population  ;  and  it  is  the  perversion  of  her 
resources  and  of  the  human  faculties,  which  has  made  the 
misery  of  man  so  great.  The  human  intellect  has  given 
proof  of  vigor  and  ingenuity  sufficient  to  bless  the  world  ; 
and  powerful  efforts  have  been  made  in  every  age,  by  afflicted 
38 


294 

humanity,  to  surmount  this  downward  bias,  and  rise  to  per- 
manent enjoyment.  Egypt,  in  her  monumental  ruins,  affords 
evidence  of  a  high  state  of  the  arts.  In  Greece,  a  vigorous 
intellect  and  favoring  clime  thrust  up  from  the  dead  level 
around  her,  a  state  of  society  comparatively  cultivated  and 
happy  ;  but  the  sun  of  her  prosperity  blazed  upon  surround- 
ing darkness,  to  set  in  a  night  of  ages.  Rome  fought  her 
way  to  dominion  and  civilization,  and  furnished  specimens  of 
mental  vigor  and  finished  culture  5  but  the  superstructure  of 
her  greatness  was  reared  by  the  plunder  of  a  devastated 
world.  Commerce,  which  gave  to  cities  a  temporary 
eminence,  elevated  but  a  little  the  moral  condition  of  the 
multitude ;  and  science,  which  was  restored  to  modern 
Europe  at  the  Reformation,  and  commerce  and  the  arts, 
which  have  followed  in  her  train,  have  not,  to  this  day,  dis- 
enthralled the  nations. 

From  these  experiments  so  long  and  so  hopelessly  made, 
it  appears,  that,  in  the  conflict  between  the  heart  and  the 
intellect  of  man,  victory  has  always  declared  on  the  side  of 
the  heart ;  which  has  led  many  to  conclude,  that  the  condition 
of  man,  in  respect  to  any  universal  abiding  melioration,  is 
hopeless.  The  text  throws  light  upon  this  dark  destiny  of 
our  race.  It  is  a  voice  from  heaven  announcing  the  approach 
of  help  from  above.  "  He  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne  saith, 
Behold,  I  make  all  things  new." 

The  renovation  here  announced,  is  a  moral  renovation 
which  shall  change  the  character  and  condition  of  men.  It 
will  not  be  partial  in  its  influence,  like  the  sun  shining  through 
clouds  on  favored  spots  ;  but  co-extensive  with  the  ruin.  Nor 
shall  its  results  be  national  glory  which  gilds  only  the  palace, 
and  cheers  only  the  dwellings  of  the  noble.  It  shall  bring 
down  the  mountains,  and  exalt  the  vajleys ;  it  shall  send 
liberty  and  equality  to  all  the  dwellings  of  men.  Nor  shall  it 
stop  at  the  fire-side,  or  exhaust  its  blessings  in  temporal 
mercies;  it  shall  enter  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart,  and 
there  destroy  the  power  which  has  blasted  human  hopes,  and 


295 

baffled  human  efforts.  Nor  will  the  change  be  transient ;  it 
is  the  last  dispensation  of  heaven  for  the  rehef  of  tliis  misera- 
ble world,  and  shall  bring  glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and 
upon  earth  peace,  and  good  wmII  to  men. 

Many  have  doubted  whether  such  a  renovation  of  the  world 
will  ever  be  accomplished  ;  but,  He  that  sat  upon  the  thone, 
said,  '  it  is  done  ;' — i.  e.  it  is  as  certain  as  if  it  had  come  to 
pass. 

I  shall  submit  to  your  consideration,  at  this  time,  some  of 
the  reasons  which  justify  the  hope,  that  this  nation  has  been 
raised  up  by  providence  to  exert  an  efficient  instrumentality 
in  this  work  of  moral  renovation. 

I  observe  then,  that,  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  reno- 
vation, great  changes  are  required  in  the  civil  and  religious 
condition  of  nations. 

1.  The  monopoly  of  the  soil  must  be  abolished.  Hitherto 
the  majorhy  of  mankind  who  have  tilled  the  earth,  have  been 
slaves  or  tenants.  The  soil  has  been  owned  by  kings,  and 
military  chieftains,  and  nobles,  and  by  them  rented  to  land- 
lords, and,  by  these,  to  still  smaller  dealers,  and  by  these 
again,  it  has  been  divided  and  subdivided,  until  the  majority, 
who  paid  the  rent,  have  sustained  in  the  sweat  of  their  brow, 
not  only  their  own  families,  but  three  or  four  orders  of  society 
above  them  ;  while  they  themselves  have  been  crushed  be- 
neath the  weight,  and  have  lived  on  the  borders  of  starvation  ; 
tlie  sickness  of  a  week,  and  often  of  a  single  day,  rendering 
them  paupers. 

This  same  monopoly  of  the  soil  has  sent  another  large 
class  of  the  community  into  manufacturing  establishments,  to 
wear  out  their  days  in  ignorance  and  hopeless  poverty  ;  and 
another  to  the  camp  and  navy,  where  honor  and  wealth 
await  the  few,  and  ignorance,  and  an  early  grave,  the  many. 

The  consequence  of  excluding  such  numbers  from  the 
possession  and  healthful  cultivation  of  the  soil,  has  been  igno- 
rance, improvidence,  reckless  indifference,  turbulence,  and 
crime.     Tortured  by  their  oppressions,  and  unrestrained  by 


296 

moral  principle,  they  have  been  prepared  for  desperate 
deeds.  Such  a  state  of  society  cannot  be  made  happy  :  the 
evil  is  radical,  and  can  only  be  remedied  by  giving  a  new 
direction  to  the  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  energies  of 
men.  We  might  as  well  band  with  iron  the  trees  of  the 
forest,  and  expect  their  expansion ;  or  throw  upon  them  in 
stinted  measure,  the  light  and  the  rain  of  heaven,  and  expect 
their  luxuriant  growth,  as  to  cramp  the  human  mind  by  une- 
qual institutions,  and  expect  the  developement  of  its  resources, 
in  a  happy  state  of  society.  Room  for  action  must  be  af- 
forded, and  light  must  be  poured  upon  the  understanding, 
and  motive  pressed  upon  the  heart.  Man  must  be  unshackled 
and  stimulated.  But  to  accomplish  this,  the  earth  must  he 
owned  by  those  who  till  it.  This  will  give  action  to  industry, 
vigor  to  the  body,  and  tone  to  the  mind  ;  and,  by  the  attend- 
ant blessing  of  heaven,  religion  to  the  heart.  From  agricul- 
ture stimulated  by  personal  rights,  will  result  commerce, 
science,  arts,  liberty,  and  independence. 

The  attraction  of  gravity  is  the  great  principle  of  motion  in 
the  material  world  ;  and  the  possession  of  the  earth  in  fee 
simple  by  the  cultivator,  is  the  great  principle  of  action  in  the 
moral  world.  Nearly  all  the  political  evils  which  have  afflict- 
ed mankind,  have  resulted  from  the  unrighteous  monopoly  of 
the  earth  ;  and  the  predicted  renovation  can  never  be  accom- 
plished, until,  to  some  extent,  this  monopoly  has  passed 
away,  and  the  earth  is  extensively  tilled  by  the  independent 
owners  of  the  soil. 

2.  To  effect  the  moral  renovation  of  the  world,  a  change 
is  required  in  the  prevailing  forms  of  government. 

The  monopoly  of  power  must  be  superseded  by  the  suf- 
frages of  freemen.  While  the  great  body  of  the  people  are 
excluded  from  all  voice  and  influence  in  legislation,  it  is  im- 
possible to  constitute  a  state  of  society  such  as  the  faculties 
of  man  allow,  and  the  word  of  God  predicts.  While  the  few 
govern  without  responsibility,  they  will  seek  their  own  eleva- 
tion and  depress  the  multitude.     To  elevate   society,  and 


297 

bi'lng  out  the  human  energies  in  a  well  ordered  state  of  things, 
the  mass  of  mankind  must  be  enlightened  and  qualified  for 
self  government,  and  must  yield  obedience  to  delegated 
power. 

3.  Before  the  moral  renovation  of  the  world  can  be 
achieved,  the  rights  of  conscience  must,  also,  be  restored  to 
man. 

Few  of  the  millions  that  have  peopled  the  earth  have  been 
quaUfied  by  knowledge,  or  permitted  by  the  governments 
under  which  they  lived,  to  read  the  Bible  and  judge  for 
themselves.  The  nominal  religions  of  this  world  have  been 
supported  by  governments,  who,  of  course,  have  prescribed 
the  creed,  and  modelled  the  worship,  and  controlled  the 
priesthood.  From  such  a  state  of  things,  what  better  resuhs 
could  be  expected,  than  that  ambitious  men  should  be  exalt- 
ed to  the  sacred  office,  while  religion  itself  was  despised  and 
persecuted  ?  Governments  and  ecclesiastics,  then,  must 
cease  to  dictate  what  men  shall  believe,  and  in  what  manner 
they  shall  worship  God.  The  church  must  be  emancipated 
from  worldly  dominion,  and  enjoy  that  liberty  wherewith 
Jesus  Christ  has  made  her  free. 

Is  it  to  be  expected  that  kingly  governments  shall  cease, 
and  the  republican  form  become  universal  ?  I  shall  not  stop 
now  to  discuss  this  question.  I  would  only  suggest  the  in- 
quiry, whether  monarchical  governments  can  be  sustained 
without  a  nobility  and  an  established  religion ;  and  whether 
these  privileged  orders  can  exi^t  without  that  monopoly  of 
the  soil,  and  of  political  influence,  and  of  the  rights  of  con- 
science, which  are  destructive  to  a  religious  and  happy  state 
of  society.  That  governments  will  change  their  name,  or  all 
their  ancient  forms,  I  will  not  say.  But  that  they  will,  under 
some  form,  become  so  far  popular  in  their  spirit,  as  that  the 
pohtical  power  shall  be  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  cannot  be 
doubted. 

It  has  been  contended,  that  Christianity  cannot  exist  in  this 
world  without  the  aid  of  religious  establishments.     But,  with 


298 

more  truth  it  might  be  said,  that,  from  the  beginning  to  this 
day,  it  has  existed  in  spite  of  them.  It  took  possession  of  the 
Roman  Empire  in  the  face  of  a  formidable  estabhshment  of 
false  religion,  and  has  survived  the  deadly  embrace  of  estab- 
lishments nominally  christian,  and  now,  bursting  from  their 
alliance,  finds  in  them  the  most  bitter  opposition  to  evangeU- 
cal  doctrine  and  vital  godliness. 

To  accomplish  these  changes  in  the  civil  and  religious 
condition  of  the  world,  revolutions  and  convulsions  are  doubt- 
less indispensable.  The  usurpation  of  the  soil  will  not  be 
relinquished  spontaneously,  nor  the  chains  knocked  off  from 
the  body  and  the  mind  of  man,  by  the  hands  which  for 
ages  have  been  employed  to  rivet  them.  He  that  sitteth 
upon  the  throne  must  overturn  and  overturn,  before  his  rights 
and  the  rights  of  man  will  be  restored.  Revolutions  of  course 
are  predicted,  such  as  shall  veil  the  sun,  and  turn  the  moon 
into  blood,  and  shake  the  earth  with  the  violence  of  nation 
dashing  against  nation  ; — until  every  despotic  government 
shall  be  thrown  down,  and  chaos  resume  its  pristine  reign  ; 
until  the  spirit  of  God  shall  move  again  upon  the  face  of  the 
deep,  and  bring  out  a  new  creation.  The  day  of  vengeance 
is  no  doubt  begun,  and  will  no  doubt  continue,  until  He  that 
sitteth  upon  the  throne  shall  have  made  all  things  new. 

But  to  the  perfection  of  this  work  a  great  example  is  re- 
quired, of  which  the  world  may  take  knowledge ;  and  which 
shall  inspire  hope,  and  rouse  and  concentrate  the  energies  of 
man.  But  where  should  suph  an  experiment  be  made  ?  Af- 
rica required  for  herself  the  commiseration  of  the  world,  and 
in  Europe  and  Asia,  it  would  have  required  ages  to  dig  up 
the  foundations  of  despotism,  and  remove  the  rubbish,  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  such  a  state  of  society  as  we  have  described  : 
this  too  must  have  been  done  in  opposition  to  proscription  and 
orsianized  resistance.  There  was  also  such  a  mass  of  unin- 
formed  mind,  accustomed  to  crouch  under  burdens,  and  so 
much  was  required  to  prepare  it  for  civil  liberty,  that  little 
hope  remained  that  the  old  world,  undirected,  and  unstimulated 


299 

by  example,  would  ever  disenthral  itself.  Some  nation,  itself 
free,  was  needed,  to  blow  the  trumpet  and  hold  up  the  light. 
But  in  England,  though  she  enjoyed  to  some  extent  the  bles- 
sings of  civil  liberty,  there  was  so  great  a  monopoly  of  the  soil 
and  of  power,  and  so  much  overturning  feared  and  needed,  that 
it  was  only  in  stinted  measures,  and  with  circumspect  policy, 
that  she  could  deal  out  her  sympathy  and  hold  up  her  light.  A 
more  vigorous  ally  to  liberty  was  needed,  which  should  with 
a  fearless  heart  and  powerful  hand,  push  on  the  work.  But 
where  could  such  a  nation  be  found  ?  It  must  be  created,  for 
it  had  no  existence  upon  tiie  earth.  Look  now  at  the  history  of 
our  Fathers  and  behold  what  God  hath  wrought.  They  were 
such  a  race  of  men  as  never  before  laid  the  foundations  of  an 
empire  ;  athletic,  intelligent  and  pious.  But  how  should  this 
portion  of  a  nation's  population  be  uprooted  and  driven  into 
exile  .^  They  were  not  permitted  to  remain  at  home.  In  that 
age  of  darkness,  and  land  of  bondage,  they  had  formed  some 
just  conceptions  of  civil  and  religious  liberty;  and  would  fain 
have  modified  the  civil  government  and  the  church  of  God 
according  to  the  Gospel.  But  the  reformation  from  popery, 
superintended  by  government,  and  regulated  by  policy,  stop- 
ped short  of  what  the  pious  expected  and  desired.  The 
Puritans  could  not  in  all  things  conform,  and  were  not  permit- 
ted to  dissent ;  and  thus  they  were  driven  into  exile,  and 
compelled  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new  empire.  And  now, 
behold  their  institutions  ;  such  as  the  world  needs,  and,  at- 
tended as  tbey  have  been  by  the  power  of  God,  able  to  en- 
lighten and  renovate  the  world.  They  recognize  the  equal 
rights  of  man — they  give  the  soil  to  the  cultivator,  and  self 
government  and  the  rights  of  conscience  to  the  people. 
They  enlighten  the  intellect,  and  form  the  conscience,  and 
bring  the  entire  influence  of  the  divine  government  to  bear 
upon  the  heart.  It  was  the  great  object  of  our  Fathers  to 
govern  men  by  the  fear  of  the  Lord  ;  to  exhibit  the  precepts, 
apply  the  motives,  and  realize  the  dispositions,  which  the 
word  of  God  inculcates   and  his    Spirit  inspires  ;  to  imbue 


300 

families,  and  schools,  and  towns,  and  states,  with  the  wisdom 
from  above.  They  had  no  projects  of  human  device — no 
theories  of  untried  efficacy.  They  hung  all  their  hopes  of 
civil  and  rehgious  prosperity  upon  the  word  of  God,  and  the 
efficacy  of  his  Spirit.  Nor  was  theirs  the  presumptuous  hope 
of  grace  without  works.  It  was  by  training  men  for  self  gov- 
ernment, that  they  expected  to  make  free  men  ;  and  by  be- 
coming fellow  workers  with  God,  that  they  expected  his  aid 
in  forming  christians ;  while,  by  intellectual  culture,  and 
moral  influence,  and  divine  power,  they  prepared  men  to  enjoy 
and  perpetuate  civil  liberty. 

The  law,  with  sleepless  vigilance,  watched  over  the  family, 
the  church,  and  the  state ;  and  a  vigorous  and  united  public 
opinion  rendered  its  execution  certain  and  efficacious.  Every 
family  was  required  to  possess  a  Bible,  every  district  a  school, 
and  every  town  a  pastor.  The  law  protected  the  sabbath, 
and  sustained  the  public  worship  of  God,  and  punished  immo- 
rality ;  and  with  mild  but  effectual  energy,  ruled  over  all. 
The  great  excellence  of  these  institutions  is,  that  they  are 
practical  and  powerful ;  the  people  are  not  free  in  name  and 
form  merely,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth.  Were  all  these  forms 
blotted  out  this  day,  the  people  would  be  free,  and  other 
forms  of  civil  freedom  would  arise.  The  governments  are 
free  governments  from  the  foundation  to  the  top  stone,  and  of 
such  practical  efficacy  as  to  make  free  men.  The  family, 
embodying  instruction  and  government,  was  itself  an  embryo 
empire.  In  the  school  district,  the  people  were  called  upon 
to  exercise  their  own  discretion  and  rights,  and  in  the  eccle- 
siastical society,  to  rear  their  place  of  worship,  elect  their 
pastor  and  provide  for  his  support ;  and  all  under  the  pro- 
tection and  guidance  of  law.  The  towns,  in  their  popular 
assemblies,  discussed  their  local  interests  and  administered 
their  own  concerns.  In  these,  originated  the  legislature,  and 
from  the  legislature  emanated  the  courts  of  justice.  In  the 
States,  as  they  are  now  organized  in  our  nation,  all  which  is 
local  and  peculiar,  is  superintended   with   a   minuteness  and 


301 

efficacy,  which  no  consolidated  government  could  possibly 
accomplish.  The  people  have  only  to  ascertain  from  expe- 
rience what  their  convenience  or  interest  demands,  and  their 
wish  becomes  a  law ;  and  still,  in  the  national  government, 
there  is  all  the  comprehension  of  plan,  and  power  of  resource, 
and  unity  of  action,  which  are  required  for  the  highest  degree 
of  national  energy  and  prosperity. 

It  has  been  doubted,  whether  a  republic  so  ^tensive  as 
ours,  can  be  held  together  and  efficiently  governed.  But 
where  there  is  this  intellectual  and  moral  influence,  and  the 
habitual  exercise  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  from  the  family 
upward  ;  we  see  not  why  a  republic  may  not  be  extended 
indefinitely,  and  still  be  the  strongest,  and  most  effective  gov- 
ernment in  the  world. 

The  history  of  our  nation  is  indicative  of  some  great  design 
to  be  accomplished  by  it.  It  is  a  history  of  perils  and  deliv- 
erances, and  of  strength  ordained  out  of  weakness.  The 
wars  with  the  savage  tribes,  and  with  the  French,  and  at  last 
with  the  English,  protracted  expense,  and  toil,  and  blood, 
through  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  No  nation, 
out  of  such  weakness,  ever  became  so  strong ;  or  was  guided 
through  such  perils  to  such  safety.  "  If  it  had  not  been  the 
Lord  who  was  on  our  side,  now  may  Israel  say  ;  if  it  had  not 
been  the  Lord  who  was  on  our  side,  when  men  rose  up 
against  us  :  then  they  had  swallowed  us  up  quick,  when  their 
wrath  was  kindled  against  us  :  then  the  waters  had  over- 
whelmed us,  the  stream  had  gone  over  our  soul :  then  the 
proud  waters  had  gone  over  our  soul."  These  deliverances, 
the  enemy  beheld  with  wonder,  and  our  Fathers  with  thanks- 
giving and  praise.  But,  in  the  whole  history  of  the  world, 
God  has  not  been  accustomed  to  grant  signal  interpositions, 
without  ends  of  corresponding  magnitude  to  be  answered  by 
them.  Indeed,  if  it  had  been  the  design  of  heaven  to  estab- 
lish a  powerful  nation,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty,  where  all  the  energies  of  man  might  find  scope 
and  excitement,  on  purpose  to  show  the  world  by  experi- 
39 
■\ 


302 

ment,  of  what  man  is  capable ;  and  to  shed  light  on  the  dark- 
ness which  should  awake  the  slumbering  eye,  and  rouse  th6 
torpid  mind,  and  nerve  the  palsied  arm  of  millions ',  wjiere 
could  such  an  experiment  have  been  made  but  in  this  country, 
and  by  whom  so  auspiciously  as  by  our  Fathers,  and  by  what 
means  so  well  adapted  to  that  end,  as  by  their  institutions  ? 
The  course  w^hich  is  now  adopted  by  christians  of  all  denomi- 
nations, to  support  and  extend,  at  home  and  abroad,  religious 
and  moral  influence ;  would  seem  to  indicate  the  purpose  of 
God  to  render  this  nation,  extensively,  the  almoners  of  his 
mercy  to  this  world. 

For  two  hundred  years,  the  religious  institutions  of  our 
land  were  secured  by  law.  But  as  our  numbers  increased, 
and  liberty  of  conscience  resulted  in  many  denominations  of 
christians,  it  became  impossible  to  secure  by  law  the  universal 
application  of  rehgious  and  moral  influence.  And  yet,  without 
this  mighty  energy  the  whole  system  must  fail ;  for  physical 
power,  without  religious  and  moral  influence,  will  not  avail  to 
sustain  the  institutions  of  civil  liberty.  We  might  as  well  rely 
on  the  harvests  which  our  Fathers  reared  for  bread,  as  to 
rely  on  the  external  forms  of  liberty  which  they  established, 
without  the  application  of  that  vital  energy,  by  which  the 
body  politic  was  animated  and  moved.  But,  at  the  very 
time  when  the  civil  law  had  become  impotent  for  the  support 
of  religion  and  the  prevention  of  immoralities,  God  began  to 
pour  out  his  Spirit  upon  the  churches  ;  and  voluntary  associa- 
tions of  christians  were  raised  up  to  apply  and  extend  that 
influence,  which  the  law  could  no  longer  apply.  And  now 
we  are  blessed  with  societies  to  aid  in  the  support  of  the 
Gospel  at  home,  to  extend  it  to  the  new  settlements,  and 
through  the  earth.  We  have  Bible  societies,  and  Tract  soci- 
eties, and  associations  of  individuals,  who  make  it  their  busi- 
ness to  see  that  every  family  has  a  Bible,  and  every  church 
a  pastor,  and  every  child  a  catechism.  And  to  these  have 
succeeded  Education  societies,  that  our  nation  may  not  out- 
grow the  means  of  religious  instruction.     And  while  these 


303 

means  of  moral  culture  are  supplied,  this  great  nation  from 
her  eminence,  begins  to  look  abroad  with  compassion  upon  a 
world  sitting  in  darkness  ;  and  to  put  forth  her  mighty  arm  to 
disenthral  the  nations,  and  elevate  the  family  of  man.  Let 
it  be  remembered  also,  that  the  means  now  relied  on, 
are  precisely  those  which  our  Fathers  applied,  and  which 
have  secured  our  prosperity.  And  when  we  contemplate 
the  unexampled  resources  of  this  country  in  men,  soil,  cli- 
mate, seacoast,  rivers,  lakes,  canals,  agriculture,  commerce, 
arts  and  wealth,  and  all  in  connexion  with  the  influence  of 
republican  and  religious  institutions  ;  is  it  too  much  to  be 
hoped  that  God  will  accept  our  powerful  instrumentality,  and 
make  it  effectual  for  the  renovation  of  the  world  ? 

The  revivals  of  religion  which  prevail  in  our  land  among 
christians  of  all  denominations,  furnish  cheering  evidence  of 
the  presence  of  evangelical  doctrine,  and  of  the  power  of 
that  Spirit  by  which  the  truth  is  to  be  made  efficacious  in  the 
salvation  of  mankind.  These  revivals  are  distinguished  by 
their  continuance  through  a  period  of  thirty  years  ;  by  their 
extent,  pervading  the  nation ;  by  their  increasing  frequency 
in  the  same  places  ;  by  their  rapidity  and  power,  often 
changing,  in  a  few  weeks,  the  character  of  towns  and  cities, 
and  even  of  large  districts  of  country.  An  earnest  of  that 
glorious  time  when  a  nation  shall  be  born  in  a  day,  they 
purify  our  literary  institutions,  and  multiply  pastors  and  mis- 
sionaries to  cheer  our  own  land,  and  enlighten  distant 
nations. 

They  are  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and 
are  constituting  an  era  of  moral  power  entirely  new.  Already 
the  churches  look  chiefly  to  them  for  their  members  and  pas- 
tors, and  for  that  power  upon  public  opinion,  which  retards 
declension,  and  gives  energy  to  law  and  voluntary  support  to 
religious  institutions. 

These  revivals  then,  falling  in  with  all  these  antecedent 
indications,  seem  to  declare  the  purpose  of  God  to  employ 
this  nation  in  the  glorious  work  of  renovating  the  earth. 


304 

If  we  look  at  our  missionaries  abroad,  and  witness  the 
smiles  of  heaven  upon  their  efforts,  our  confidence,  that  it  is 
the  purpose  of  God  to  render  our  nation  a  blessing  to  the 
world,  will  be  increased.  In  talents,  and  piety,  and  learning, 
and  doctrine,  and  civil  policy,  they  are  the  legitimate  descend- 
ants of  the  Puritans.  Every  where  they  command  high 
respect,  and  have  been  distinguished  by  their  judicious  and 
successful  efforts.  In  Ceylon,  and  Hawaii,  and  among  the 
natives  of  this  country,  they  are  fast  supplanting  idolatry  by 
christian  institutions.  Revivals  of  religion  cheer  and  bless 
them  ;  and  churches,  and  all  the  elements  of  christian  civili- 
zation are  multiplying  around  them. 

Let  this  nation  go  on,  then,  and  multiply  its  millions  and 
its  resources,  and  bring  the  whole  under  the  influence  of  our 
civil  and  religious  institutions,  and  with  the  energies  of  its 
concentrated  benevolence  send  out  evangelical  instruction  ; 
and  who  can  calculate  what  our  blessed  instrumentality  shall 
have  accomplished,  when  He  who  sitteth  upon  the  throne 
shall  have  made  all  things  new. 

If  Swartz,  and  Buchanan,  and  Vanderkemp,  and  Carey, 
and  Martyn,  and  Brainerd,  could,  each  alone,  accomplish  so 
much  ;  what  may  not  be  expected  from  the  energies  of  such 
a  nation  as  this  ?  Fifty  such  men  as  Paul  the  Apostle,  unaided 
by  the  resources  of  systematic  benevolence,  might  evangelize 
the  world.  What  then  may  not  be  accomplished  by  a  nation 
of  freemen,  destined  in  little  more  than  half  a  century  to 
number  its  fifty  milhons  ? 

If  we  consider  also  our  friendly  relations  with  the  South 
American  States,  and  the  close  imitation  they  are  disposed  to 
make  of  our  civil  and  literary  institutions,  who  can  doubt  that 
the  spark  which  our  Forefathers  struck  will  yet  enlighten  this 
entire  continent.''  But  when  the  light  of  such  a  hemisphere 
shall  go  up  to  heaven,  it  will  throw  its  beams  beyond  the 
waves — it  will  shine  into  the  darkness  there,  and  be  compre- 
hended ;  it  will  awaken  desire,  and  hope,  and  effort,  and 
produce  revolutions  and  ovcrturnings,  until  the  world  is  free. 


305 

From  our  revolutionary  struggle,  proceeded  ihe  revolution 
in  France,  and  all  which  has  followed  in  Naples,  Portugal, 
Spain,  and  Greece ;  and  though  the  bolt  of  every  chain  has 
been  again  driven,  they  can  no  more  hold  the  heaving  mass, 
than  the  chains  of  Xerxes  could  hold  the  Hellespont  vexed 
with  storms.  Floods  have  been  poured  upon  the  rising  flame, 
but  they  can  no  more  extinguish  it  than  they  can  extinguish 
the  fires  of  ^tna.  Still  it  burns,  and  still  the  mountain  heaves 
and  murmurs ;  and  soon  it  will  explode  with  voices,  and 
thunderings,  and  great  earthquakes.  Then  will  the  trumpet 
of  jubilee  sound,  and  earth's  debased  millions  will  leap  from 
the  dust,  and  shake  off  their  chains,  and  cry,  "Hosanna  to  the 
Son  of  David." 

Before  we  conclude  this  discourse,  let  us  attend  to  some 
of  the  duties  to  which  we  are  called  by  our  high  providential 
destiny. 

And  most  evidently  we  are  called  upon 

1.  To  cherish  with  high  veneration  and  grateful  recollec- 
tions the  memory  of  our  Fathers.  Both  the  ties  of  nature, 
and  the  dictates  of  policy  demand  this.  And  surely  no 
nation  ever  had  less  occasion  to  be  ashamed  of  its  ancestry, 
or  more  occasion  for  gratulation  in  that  respect ;  for  while 
most  nations  trace  their  origin  to  barbarians,  the  foundations 
of  6ur  nation  were  laid  by  civilized  men — by  christians. 
]\Iany  of  them  were  men  of  distinguished  families,  of  power- 
ful talents,  of  great  learning,  of  pre-eminent  wisdom,  of  de- 
cision of  character,  and  of  most  inflexible  integrity.  And 
yet,  not  unfrequently,  they  have  been  treated  as  if  they  had  no 
virtues ;  while  their  sins  and  follies  have  been  sedulously 
immortalized  in  satirical  anecdote.  The  influence  of  such 
treatment  of  the  Fathers  is  too  manifest.  It  creates  and  lets 
loose  upon  their  invaluable  institutions  the  Vandal  spirit  of 
innovation  and  overthrow ;  for  after  the  memory  of  our 
Fathers   shall  have   been   rendered    contemptible,    who   will 


306 

appreciate  and  sustain  their  institutions?  '  The  Memory  of 
OUR  Fathers,'  should  be  the  watchword  of  hberty  through- 
out the  land ; — for,  imperfect  as  they  were,  the  world  before, 
had  not  seen  their  like,  nor  will  it  soon,  we  fear,  behold  their 
like  again.  Such  models  of  moral  excellence,  such  apostles 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  such  shades  of  the  illustrious 
dead,  looking  down  upon  their  descendants  with  approbation 
or  reproof,  according  as  they  follow  or  depart  from  the  good 
way,  constitute  a  censorship  inferior  only  to  the  eye  of  God ; 
— and  to  ridicule  them  is  national  suicide. 

The  doctrines  of  our  Fathers  have  been  represented  as 
gloomy,  superstitious,  severe,  irrational,  and  of  a  licentious 
tendency.  But  when  other  systems  shall  have  produced  a 
piety  as  devoted,  a  morality  as  pure,  a  patriotism  as  disin- 
terested, and  a  state  of  society  as  happy,  as  have  prevailed 
where  their  doctrines  have  been  most  prevalent ;  it  may  be 
in  season  to  seek  an  answer  to  this  objection.  The  same 
doctrines  have  been  charged  with  inspiring  a  spirit  of  dogma- 
tism and  religious  domination.  But  in  all  the  struggles  of 
man  with  despotic  power  for  civil  liberty,  the  doctrines  of  our 
Fathers  have  been  found,  usually,  if  not  always,  on  the  side 
of  liberty,  as  their  opposite  have  been  usually  found  in  the 
ranks  of  arbitrary  power. 

The  persecutions  instituted  by  our  Fathers,  have  been  the 
occasion  of  ceaseless  obloquy  upon  their  fair  fame.  And 
truly  it  was  a  fault  of  no  ordinary  magnitude  that,  sometihies, 
they  did  persecute.  But  let  him,  whose  ancestors  were  not 
ten  times  more  guilty,  cast  the  first  stone,  and  the  ashes  of 
our  Fathers  will  no  more  be  disturbed.  Theirs  was  the 
fault  of  the  age,  and  it  will  be  easy  to  show,  that  no  class  of 
men  had  at  that  time  approximated  so  nearly  to  just  appre- 
hensions of  religious  liberty ;  and  that  it  is  to  them  that  the 
world  is  now  indebted  for  the  more  just  and  definite  views 
which  prevail.  More  exclamation  and  invective  has  been 
called  forth  by  the  few  instances  of  persecution  by  the  Fa- 
thers of  New  England,  than  by  all  the  fires  which  Hghted  the 


307 

realm  of  Old  England  for  centuries,  and  drove  into  exile, 
thousands  of  her  most  valuable  subjects. 

The  superstition  and  bigotry  of  our  Fathers  are  themes,  on 
which  some  of  their  descendants,  themselves  far  enough  from 
superstition,  if  not  from  bigotry,  have  delighted  to  dwell. 
But  when  we  look  abroad,  and  behold  the  condition  of  the 
world  compared  with  the  condition  of  New  England,  we  may 
justly  exclaim,  '  Would  to  God  that  the  ancestors  of  all  the 
nations  had  been  not  only  almost,  but  altogether  such  bigots 
as  our  Fathers  were  !' 

Their  strictness  in  the  family,  and  in  church  and  state,  has 
been  complained  of  as  too  rigid.  But  they  were  laying  the 
foundations  of  a  nation,  and  applying  a  moral  power,  whose 
impulse  should  extend  through  ages  ;  and  who  that  beholds 
the  rapid  and  appalling  moral  relaxation  of  the  present  day, 
can  believe  that  they  put  the  system  in  motion  with  too  much 
rigor  ?  In  proportion  as  their  discipline  had  been  less  strict, 
our  present  condition  had  been  more  alarming,  and  our  future 
prospects  more  desperate. 

Our  Fathers  have  been  ridiculed  as  an  uncouth  and  un- 
courtly  generation.  And  it  must  be  admitted,  that  they  were 
not  as  expert  in  the  graces  of  dress,  and  the  etiquette  of  the 
drawing  room,  as  some  of  their  descendants.  But  neither 
could  these  have  felled  the  trees,  nor  guided  the  plough,  nor 
spread  the  sail  which  they  did  ;  nor  braved  the  dangers  of 
Indian  warfare,  nor  displayed  the  wisdom  in  counsel  which 
our  Fathers  displayed.  And,  had  none  stepped  upon  the 
Plymouth  rock  but  such  effeminate  critics  as  these,  the  poor 
natives  never  would  have  mourned  their  wilderness  lost,  but 
would  have  brushed  them  from  the  land,  as  they  would  brush 
the  puny  insect  from  their  face  ;  the  Pequods  would  have 
slept  in  safety  that  night  which  was  their  last,  and  no  intrepid 
Mason  had  hung  upon  their  rear,  and  driven  into  exile  the 
panic-struck  fugitives. 

2.  We  are  called  upon  to  cherish  and  extend  our  religious 
institutions. 


308 

Religion  was  the  power  on  which  our  Fathers  relied — the 
power  which  has  made  us  what  we  are,  and  which  must 
guarantee  the  perpetuity  of  our  blessings.  Every  other  in- 
fluence has  been  tried  and  has  failed,  while  this  has  been 
tried  with  ample  promise  of  success.  The  application  of 
religious  and  moral  influence  is,  therefore,  the  great  duty  to 
which,  as  a  nation,  we  are  called.  On  this  influence  depends 
our  rise  or  fall — our  glorious  immortality  or  our  hasty  dissolu- 
tion. Every  thing  but  this,  may  be  safely  left  to  the  opera- 
tion of  existing  causes.  Ambition  will  secure  the  interests  of 
education  and  science  ;  the  love  of  gold  will  push  agriculture 
and  commerce  and  arts ;  and  the  pride  of  liberty  will  arm 
the  nation,  and  render  it  invincible.  All  these  things,  the 
nations  who  have  preceded  us  have  been  able  to  do.  But 
there  was  a  sickness  of  the  heart  which  they  could  neither 
endure  nor  heal ; — and  with  this  same  disease  this  nation  is 
sick,  and  intellectual  cuhure,  and  civil  liberty,  and  national 
wealth  will  not  heal  it.  There  is  but  one  remedy  ;  and  that 
is,  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent 
down  from  on  high.  But  to  render  the  Gospel  effectual,  the 
religious  education  of  the  family,  and  the  moral  culture  of  our 
schools  and  colleges  must  be  secured  ;  and  the  Sabbath  must 
be  rescued  from  profanation.  The  Sabbath  is  the  great 
organ  of  the  divine  administration — the  only  means  provided 
by  God  to  give  ubiquity  and  power  to  his  moral  government. 
The  intellectual  culture  of  a  nation  requires  schools  and 
literary  institutions ;  and  that  the  subjects  of  instruction  shall 
be  brought  under  their  influence.  Let  the  fascinations  of 
pleasure,  or  the  demands  of  labor  withdraw  the  children  and 
youth  from  the  power  of  intellectual  culture,  and  ignorance 
will  ensue ;  in  like  manner,  let  the  stream  of  pleasure  and  of 
worldly  cares  bear  away  the  population  of  the  land  from  the 
house  of  God,  and  from  the  duties  of  devotion  on  the  Sab- 
bath ;  and  ignorance  of  God  and  of  his  laws  will  with  equal 
certainty  ensue  ;  irreligion  will  prevail,  and  immorality  and 
dissoluteness,  to  an  extent  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  per- 


309 

manence  of  republican  institutions.  Europe  can  never  enjoy 
civil  liberty  until  she  shall  do  more  homage  to  the  Sabbath  of 
God  ;  and  we  shall  enjoy  it  but  a  short  space  after  we  have 
ceased  to  render  to  God  his  right  in  that  sacred  day  :  for,  all 
the  millions  who  violate  the  Sabbath,  will  draw  themselves 
from  the  moral  power  of  the  divine  government,  deprive 
their  families  of  a  religious  education,  and  abandon  them  to 
the  power  of  their  evil  hearts  and  their  own  bad  example. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  secular  interests  of  men  are  so  indisso- 
lubly  connected,  that  the  stream  of  business,  put  in  motion 
by  the  wicked  on  the  Sabbath  day,  not  only  pains  the  eye  of 
the  virtuous,  but,  as  it  deepens,  and  roars,  and  rolls  onward 
its  turbid  waters,  it  draws  into  itself  by  the  associations  of 
business,  a  large,  and  still  larger  portion  of  the  community  ; 
until  it  spreads  unresisted  over  the  land,  obliterates  the  gov- 
ernment of  God,  and  substitutes  covetousness  and  pleasure 
and  dissoluteness,  instead  of  godliness  and  the  morality  of  the 
Gospel. 

The  present,  undoubtedly,  is  the  generation  which  is  to 
decide  the  fate  of  this  great  empire,  by  deciding  whether  the 
Sabbath  of  God  shall  be  preserved  or  blotted  out ;  for  the 
temptations  of  the  seaboard  and  of  canals  are  immense,  and 
are  increasing  most  fearfully ;  and,  unless  public  sentiment 
and  law  shall  make  a  stand  soon,  we  may  as  well  attempt  to 
stop  the  rolling  of  the  ocean,  or  the  current  of  our  mighty 
rivers. 

The  universal  extension  of  our  religious  institutions,  is  the 
only  means  of  reconciling  our  unparalleled  prosperity  with 
national  purity  and  immortality.  Without  the  preserving 
power  of  religious  and  moral  influence,  our  rapid  increase  in 
wealth  will  be  the  occasion  of  our  swift  destruction.  The 
rank  vegetation  of  unsanctified  enterprise,  thrown  into  one 
vast  reservoir  of  putrefaction,  will  send  up  over  the  land 
desolation  and  death.  No  nation  will  be  so  short  lived  as 
ours,  unless  we  can  balance  the  temptations  of  our  prosperity 
by  moral  power.  Our  sun  has  moved  onward  from  his 
40 


310 

morning  to  his  meridian,  with  a  rapidity  and  glory  which  has 
amazed  the  world.  But,  unless  we  can  extend  the  power  of 
religious  institutions  through  the  land,  dark  clouds  will  soon 
obscure  his  glory,  and  his  descent  to  a  night  of  ages  will  be 
more  rapid  than  his  rising. 

When  we  were  colonies,  or  unallied  states,  the  law  could 
make  provision  for  the  creation  and  application  of  moral 
power.  The  law  could  compel  men  to  desist  from  secular 
employments  and  vain  amusements  on  the  Sabbath.  The 
law  could  compel  men  to  support  the  Gospel,  and  attend  the 
public  worship  of  God — and  civil  officers  could  see  to  it,  that 
every  town  should  in  due  time  settle  a  minister,  and  that 
every  family  should  possess  a  Bible  and  a  catechism.  But 
these  means  of  moral  influence  the  law  can  no  longer  apply ; 
and  there  is  no  substitute  but  the  voluntary  energies  of  the 
nation  itself,  exerted  by  associations  for  charitable  contribu- 
tions and  efforts,  patronized  by  all  denominations  of  chris- 
tians, and  by  all  classes  of  the  community  who  love  their 
country.  We  may  boast  of  our  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
but  they  are  the  fruit  of  other  men's  labors  into  which  we 
have  entered  ;  and  the  effect  of  institutions,  whose  impulse 
has  been  felt  long  after  the  hands  that  reared  them  have 
mouldered  in  the  grave.  This  impulse,  too,  is  fast  failing, 
and  becoming  yearly,  more  and  more  disproportioned  to  the 
mass  that  is  to  be  moved  by  it.  Our  religious  institutions 
must  be  invigorated,  or  we  are  undone.  They  must  move 
onward  with  our  flowing  emigration  to  the  Mississippi — must 
pass  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  pour  their  waters  of  life  into 
the  ocean  beyond  ;  and  from  the  north  to  the  south,  they 
must  bear  salvation  on  their  waves.  In  this  way  the  nation 
can  save  itself:  but  unless  it  can  be  roused  to  this  mighty 
work,  it  will,  like  the  man  among  the  tombs,  become  exceed- 
ing fierce,  and  turn  upon  itself  its  infuriated  energies,  and 
pour  out  its  own  life  blood  by  self-inflicted  wounds.* 

*In  many  of  the  discourses  and  orations  which  commpmorale  the  deeds  of  our  Fa- 
thers, iheir'character,  as  the  apostles  of  civil  lilierty,  is  especially  eulogised  ;  while 
their  doctrines,  their  piety,  their  church  order,  and  the  other  peculiarities  of  their  re- 


311 

3.  We  are  called  upon  to  give  a  quickened,  and  extended 
impulse  to  our  charitable  institutions. 

These  are  the  providential  substitutes  for  those  legal  pro- 
visions of  our  Fathers,  which  are  now  inapplicable  by  change 
of  circumstances.  In  these  the  nation  must  enrol  itself 
spontaneously,  and  the  spirit  of  the  Puritans  be  revived,  for 
the  preservation  of  their  institutions.  And  now  is  the  time. 
With  our  growing  prosperity,  the  fascinations  of  pleasure 
increase,  and  the  means  and  temptations  to  voluptuousness. 
Now,  unless  the  salt  of  the  earth  contained  in  christian  insti- 
tutions can  be  diffused  through  the  land,  the  mass  will  putrify. 
The  tide  of  business  and  pleasure,  bursting  from  our  cities, 
rolling  on  our  seacoast,  and  flowing  in  our  canals,  will  soon 
sweep  away  the  Sabbath,  unless  a  vigorous  public  sentiment, 
by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  power  of  the  Spirit, 
can  be  arrayed  for  its  preservation.  Let  the  Sabbath  schools, 
then,  and  Bible  classes  of  our  land  be  multiplied  ;  and  let 
societies  for  domestic  missions  rise  in  every  Slate  and  district, 
and  collect  and  pour  out  the  energies  of  the  nation  for  its 
moral  preservation  ;  while  Bibles,  and  pastors,  and  teachers 
are  multiplied,  till  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  covers  the  land, 
and  his  saving  health  is  extended  to  all  the  people. 

ligious  institutions,  arc  passed  olT  with  cold  commendations,  or  perhaps  palliated  and 
excused  as  tiic  detects  of  the  age.  But  no  historical  fact  is  more  completely  estab- 
lished, than  that  religion  was  theciiief  end  for  which  our  Fathers  sought  this  wilder- 
ness, and  that  their  peculiar  doctrines  and  views  of  experimental  religion  and  church 
order  were  dearer  to  them  than  life  ;  and  that  it  is  these,  wiiich,  for  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  applied  the  religious  and  moral  influence  under  which  New 
England  was  formed,  and  which  has  made  her  what  she  is.  Let  the  children  of  the 
Pilgrims  never  forget  this  ;  and  let  tlie  eulogists  of  their  patriotism  cease  to  spread 
before  our  eyes  such  a  glitter  of  style  and  eloquence,  as  shall  place  their  civil  exploits 
in  the  fore-ground,  and  throw  their  doctrines,  and  church  order,  and  eminent  jiiety 
into  the  back-ground.  The  religious  a'lid  moral  causes  vvhich  have  blessed  New 
England,  and  are  now  rolling  the  tide  of  salvation  to  the  West,  can  never  he  conceal- 
ed ;  and  can  never  be,  successfully,  misrepresented.  As  well  may  the  fS'ewtonian 
philosophy  be  concealed,  as  the  system  of  our  Fathers — it  is  out,  and  known,  and 
read  of  all  men.  We  are  the  more  called  upon  to  regard  this  subject  with  deep 
interest,  from  the  fact,  that  the  attempt  is  now  openly  made  to  destroy  the  religious 
and  moral  energy  of  the  churches  which  our  Fathers  planted,  by  perverting  their 
doctrines,  changing  the  qualifications  for  membership,  and  taking  from  them  their 
immemorial  and  sacred  rights  in  the  election  of  their  own  pastors,  in  the  enjoyment 
of  which,  they  have  exerted  so  powerful  and  salutary  an  influence,  and  in  the  de- 
struction of  which,  their  moral  power  must  fail.  We  have  no  apjirehension  that  the 
children  of  the  I'ilgrims,  when  the  sivlijcct  shall  be  fairly  understood,  v.ill,  by  adding 
injustice  to  ingratitude,  sanction  such  innovations. 


312 

4.  All  christian  denominations  are  called  upon  to  co-ope- 
rate for  the  preservation  of  religion. 

It  is  idle  to  expect,  and  folly  to  desire,  the  amalgamation 
of  all  denominations  into  one.  The  papal  effort  at  universal 
comprehension  has  shown,  what  a  vast,  unstimulated,  stagnant 
uniformity  will  accomplish  ;  and  God,  no  doubt,  has  permitted 
some  varying  winds  of  opinion  to  move  upon  the  face  of  the 
deep,  to  maintain  motion,  purity  and  life.  We  may  say, 
however,  that  jealousies  and  ambitious  collisions  between 
religious  denominations  should  give  place  to  christian  cour- 
tesy, and  the  magnanimity  of  an  hearty  co-operation  for  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  salvation  of  the  world.  It  is  in  vain 
to  expect,  and  it  would  be  sinful  to  desire  the  extinction  of 
any  one  denomination  of  real  christians.  There  is  room  for 
all — and  v.'ork  for  all ;  and  there  is  ample  reason  why  each 
should  hail  the  other  as  an  auxiliary  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 
Religious  principle  must  be  applied  throughout  the  nation, 
and  no  one  denomination  can  do  it.  The  work  demands  the 
ceaseless  action  of  each  in  its  own  peculiar  way,  and  the  mag- 
nanimous co-operation  of  all,  for  the  preservation  of  the  great 
principles  of  our  common  Christianity.  Nor  will  such  con- 
cert of  action  be  in  vain.  It  will  form,  extensively,  a  public 
opinion  which  shall  accord  with  the  morality  of  the  Gospel — 
whose  sanctions,  expressed  in  the  votes  of  virtuous  freemen, 
shall  elevate  to  influence  and  power,  men  of  pure  morality, 
and  consign  the  irreligious,  immoral,  and  dissolute,  to  merited 
contempt : — a  law  which  the  wicked  cannot  repeal,  and 
whose  penalty  they  cannot  evade.  All  denominations,  unitedj 
and  directing  their  suffrages  to  that  end,  can  check  the  viola- 
tion of  the  Sabbath  ;  can  arrest  the  contagion  of  intempe- 
rance ;  can  punish  duellists  in  high  places,  who  with  shame- 
less notoriety,  set  at  defiance  the  laws  of  God  and  their  coun- 
try, bringing  upon  us  the  contempt  of  the  world,  and  the  just 
judgments  of  heaven. 

5.  In  this  great  work  of  national  preservation  and  universal 
good  will,  our   civil   rulers   are,  particularly,   called  upon  to 


313 

co-operate  ;  not,  as  once,  in  convoking  synods,  and  approving 
and  recommending  creeds ;  and  not  in  coercing  by  law, 
attendance  upon  public  worship,  or  the  support  of  religious 
institutions.  The  day  is  gone  by,  in  which  such  interposition 
is  required,  or  can  avail.  The  God  of  our  Fathers,  having 
given  to  us  a  practical  illustration  of  the  efficacy  of  religious 
institutions,  sustained  by  law  during  our  minority  ; — now,  in 
our  manhood,  puts  the  price  into  our  hands  to  be  preserved 
or  abandoned  spontaneously  on  our  own  responsibility.  Nor 
are  the  church  and  the  state  to  be  so  identified,  as  that  the 
qualifications  for  civil  office  must  be  the  same  as  for  member- 
ship in  that  kingdom  which  is  not  of  this  world.  Our  civil 
rulers  owe  to  God  and  their  country  now,  the  same  illustrious 
piety,  the  same  estimation  of  the  doctrines  of  God's  Word, 
the  same  attendance  upon  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  and 
co-operation  for  their  support,  and  the  same  strict  and  pure 
morality,  which  rendered  the  civil  Fathers  of  our  land  so  il- 
lustrious in  their  character,  and  so  benign  in  the  power  of 
their  example  upon  their  own  and  upon  other  generations. 
The  example  of  men  in  official  stations,  is  among  the  most 
powerful  moral  causes  which  afflict  or  bless  a  community. 
If  it  be  good,  it  descends  with  cheering  power,  like  the  gentle 
rain  upon  the  earth  ;  but  if  it  be  evil,  from  its  "  bad  emi- 
nence," it  comes  down  upon  the  community  like  the  moun- 
tain torrent,  sweeping  away  landmarks.  The  righteous 
mourn  under  their  sway,  and  the  wicked  creep  from  their 
hiding  places,  and  walk  on  every  side,  setting  their  mouth 
against  the  heavens,  and  their  foot  upon  all  that  is  sacred  and 
holy.  The  time  has  come,  when  the  experiment  is  to  be 
made,  whether  the  world  is  to  be  emancipated  and  rendered 
happy,  or  whether  the  whole  creation  shall  groan  and  travail 
together  in  pain  until  the  final  consummation  :  and  the  exam- 
ple of  the  rulers  of  our  nation  will  throw  decisive  weights  into 
the  scales,  for  or  against  the  world's  last  hope.  If  they  pour 
contempt  upon  the  Bible,  its  doctrines  and  institutions — if 
they  take  in  vain  the  name  of  God,  or  profane  wantonly  his 


314 

holy  day — if  they  concentrate  in  the  capitol,  and  spread 
abroad  through  the  land,  the  infection  of  their  bad  example ; 
the  whole  nation  will  feel  it,  and  die  under  it,  unless  the  in- 
dignant virtue  of  an  insulted  community  shall  throw  off  the 
body  of  death,  and,  by  a  well  directed  suffrage,  call  to  its 
aid  men  of  talents  and  of  pure  morality. 

6.  To  perpetuate  our  national  prosperity  and  hold  up  our 
light  to  the  world,  our  citizens  must  banish  party  spirit,  and 
regulate  the  suffrage  of  the  nation  with  reference  to  the  pre- 
servation of  its  moral  purity. 

The  temporary  colhsions  of  local  interest  and  of  ambition 
can  never  be  excluded  from  such  a  nation  as  this,  and  are 
not  to  be  feared.  It  is  those  deep-rooted  and  permanent 
divisions,  extending  through  the  land,  rousing  the  feelings  and 
arraying  the  energies  of  one  part  of  the  nation  in  keen  colli- 
sion with  the  other,  and  perpetuating  prejudice  and  strife  from 
generation  to  generation,  which  threaten  the  existence  of  our 
republican  institutions.  Through  one  such  fiery  trial  we  have 
passed  undestroyed,  though  by  no  means  uninjured;  and  no 
patriot  of  the  present  generation  would  willingly,  I  trust,  be- 
hold our  country  placed  in  such  jeopardy  again.  Despotic 
governments  may  pass  in  safety  through  popular  commotions 
such  as  v/ould  shake  down  the  pillars  of  a  republic.  The 
mobs  of  England,  which,  in  the  presence  of  the  mihtary  power, 
are  but  the  gambols  of  a  kid  within  the  scope  of  the  lion's  paw, 
would  be,  in  this  country,  as  the  letting  out  of  waters.  There 
is  no  possibility  of  freedom  in  this  bad  world,  without  so  much 
intelhgence  and  moral  principle  among  the  people,  as  shall 
create  an  efficient  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  law  and  good 
order.  But  party  spirit  prostrates  every  thing  within  the 
sphere  of  its  commotion,  which  is  venerable  and  sacred.  It 
directs  the  attention  of  the  people  from  their  own  common 
interests,  to  the  means  of  gaining  objects  to  which  prejudice 
and  passion  may  direct  them ;  and  the  attention  of  the  gov- 
ernment from  the  public  good,  to  the  means  of  its  own  perpe- 
tuity and  ascendancy.     It  renders  a  wise  and  comprehensive 


315 

policy  impossible ;  for  party  spirit  has  no  magnanimity,  no 
conscience,  no  consistency,  to  withhold  it  from  resisting  as 
readily  what  is  wise  as  what  is  unwise  ;  and  its  victories  are 
too  transient  to  admit  of  much  prospective  wisdom.  It  is 
eminently  hostile  to  the  laws  which  watch  over  the  morals  of 
the  nation  ; — for  who  will  execute  them,  when  partizans  on 
both  sides  fear  that  they  may  feel  the  consequences  of  fidelity 
at  the  next  election.  Too  often,  from  the  nearly  balanced 
state  of  parties,  the  most  worthless  portion  of  the  community 
actually  hold  the  sway  in  the  elections,  even  in  a  state  of 
society  comparatively  virtuous, — occasioning  impunity  in  the 
violation  of  law,  and  clothing  with  jjolitical  consequence,  and 
too  often  surrounding  with  adulation,  men  whom  our  Fathers 
would  have  expelled  from  good  society.  It  tends  to  destroy 
in  society,  all  distinctions  of  moral  character,  talent,  and 
learning,  as  qualifications  for  office  ;  while  it  reconciles  the 
people,  upon  the  plea  of  necessity,  to  such  preposterous 
sacrifices  of  conscience  and  common  sense,  as  they  would 
never  consent  to,  unstimulated  by  its  madness.  Indeed,  in 
all  but  the  name,  it  rears  beneath  the  forms  of  freedom,  a 
real  and  most  terrific  despotism.  For  every  party  has  a 
soul, — some  master  spirit,  who,  without  a  crown  and  a  scep- 
tre, governs  with  absolute  sway.  He  is  surrounded  by  a 
nobility,  each  of  whom  is  commissioned  to  govern  the  public 
opinion  within  his  sphere,  and  bring  his  retainers  to  the  polls, 
to  subserve  implicitly  the  interests  of  the  king  and  of  the 
aristocracy.  It  needs  only  to  kindle  the  watch-fire,  and  every 
clansman  is  at  his  post ;  and  argument  might  as  well  avail 
against  bullets  in  the  day  of  battle,  as  in  these  determined 
contests  of  parties.  There  is  no  remedy  for  this  state  of 
things,  but  that  intelligence  which  qualifies  the  people  to  un- 
derstand their  rights,  interests,  and  duties  ;  and  that  calmness 
of  feeling  to  which  the  public  mind,  undisturbed  by  partizan 
efforts,  will  not  fail  to  come  ;  and  that  deep  conviction  of  the 
importance  of  moral  purity,  which  shall  turn  the  expectations 


316 

of  the  people  from  party  men  and  party  measures,  to  the  ap- 
plication of  moral  power,  by  the  institutions  of  religion,  and 
the  interposition  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Multitudes  of  christians  and  patriots  have  long  since  aban- 
doned party  politics,  and,  not  knowing  what  to  do,  have  al- 
most abandoned  the  exercise  of  suffrage.  This  is  wrong. 
An  enlightened  and  virtuous  suffrage  may,  by  system  and  con- 
centration, become  one  of  the  most  powerful  means  of  pro- 
moting national  purity  and  morality ; — as  the  suffrage  from 
which  the  influence  of  conscience  is  withdrawn,  cannot  fail 
to  be  disastrous.  While  then,  as  freemen,  we  remove  one 
temptation  to  hypocrisy,  by  dispensing  with  a  profession  of 
religion  as  a  qualification  for  office,  and  exclude  all  occasions 
of  jealousy,  by  bestowing  our  votes  without  reference  to  chris- 
tian denomination ;  let  all  christians  and  all  patriots  exercise 
their  rights  as  electors,  with  an  inflexible  regard  to  moral 
character  ;  and  let  the  duellist,  and  the  sabbath-breaker,  and 
the  drunkard,  and  the  licentious,  find  the  doors  of  honor 
barred,  and  the  heights  of  ambition  defended  against  them  by 
hosts  of  determined  freemen,  and  the  moral  effect  will  be 
great.  The  discrimination  by  suffrage  will  exert  upon  the 
youth  of  our  country  a  most  salutary  restraint,  and  upon  dis- 
solute and  ambitious  men  a  powerful  reforming  influence. 
Let  every  freeman,  then,  who  would  perpetuate  the  liberty 
and  happiness  of  his  country,  and  transmit  to  his  descendants 
of  distant  generations  the  precious  legacy  which  our  Fathers 
have  sent  down  to  us,  inquire  concerning  the  candidate  for 
whom  he  is  solicited  to  vote, — is  he  an  enemy  to  the  Bible, 
or  to  the  doctrines  and  institutions  of  the  Gospel ; — is  he  a 
duellist,  or  an  intemperate  man,  or  a  sabbath-breaker,  or  dis- 
solute, or  dishonest  ? — and  if,  in  any  of  these  respects,  he  be 
disqualified,  let  him  withhold  his  vote,  and  give  it  to  a  better 
man — and  it  will  go  far  to  retrieve  the  declensions  which 
have  taken  place,  and  to  render  righteousness  and  peace  the 
stabihty  of  our  times. 


317 

And  now,  what  shall  we  say  to  these  things  ?  Are  they 
the  dreams  of  a  fervid  imagination,  or  are  they  the  words  of 
truth  and  soberness  ?  Will  our  blessings  be  perpetuated,  or 
shall  ours  be  added  to  the  ruined  republics  that  have  been  ? 
Are  we  assembled  to-day  to  bestow  funeral  honors  upon  our 
departed  glory,  or  with  united  counsels  and  hearts  to  strength- 
en the  things  that  remain  ?  Weak  indeed  must  be  the 
faith  that  wavers  now,  and  sinks  amid  waves  less  terrific, 
and  prospects  more  cheering,  than  any  which  our  Fatheris 
ever  saw.  Were  it  dark  even  as  midnight,  and  did  the  waves 
run  high,  and  dash  loud  and  angry  around  us,  still  our  faith 
would  not  be  dismayed  :  still  with  our  Fathers  we  would 
believe,  "  Qui  transtulit  sustinet ;"  and  still  would  we  re- 
joice in  the  annunciation  of  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne, 
"  Behold  I  create  all  things  new."  Our  anchor  will  not 
fail — our  bark  will  not  founder ;  for  the  means  of  preserva- 
tion ivill  be  used,  and  the  God  of  our  Fathers  will  make  them 
effectual.  The  memory  of  our  Fathers  is  becoming  more 
precious.  Their  institutions  are  commanding  a  higher  esti- 
mation. Deeper  convictions  are  felt  of  the  importance  of 
religion  ;  and  more  extended  and  vigorous  exertions  are  made 
to  balance  the  temptations  of  prosperity  by  moral  power. 
Christians  are  ceasing  from  their  jealousies,  and  concentrating 
their  energies.  The  nation  is  moved,  and  beginning  to  enrol 
itself  in  various  forms  of  charitable  association,  for  the  exten- 
sion of  religion  at  home  and  abroad.  Philosophers  and  patri- 
ots, statesmen  and  men  of  wealth,  are  beginning  to  feel  that 
it  is  righteousness  only  which  exalteth  a  nation  ;  and  to  give 
to  the  work  of  moral  renovation  their  arguments,  the  power 
of  their  example,  and  the  impulse  of  their  charity.  And  the 
people,  weary  of  political  collision,  are  disposed  at  length  to 
build  again  those  institutions,  which,  in  times  of  contention, 
they  had  either  neglected  or  trodden  down.  Such  an  array 
of  moral  influence  as  is  now  comprehended  in  the  great  plan 
of  charitable  operations,  was  never  before  brought  to  bear 
41 


318 

upon  the  nation.  It  moves  onward,  attended  by  fervent  sup- 
plications, and  followed  by  glorious  and  unceasing  effusions 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  god  of  this  world  feels  the  shock 
of  the  onset,  and  has  commenced  his  retreat ;  and  Jesus 
Christ  is  pressing  onward  from  conquering  to  conquer  :  nor 
will  he  turn  from  his  purpose,  or  cease  from  bis  work,  until 
he  hath  made  all  things  new.   . 


APPENDIX. 


REPIi  Y 

TO    THE    REVIEW    OF    DR.   BEECHEr's    SERMON    DELIVERED    AT    WORCESTER,    MASSA- 
CHUSETTS, OCTOBER  15,  18:Q3. 


[Tlie  following  reply  was  made  to  an  article  which  appeared  in  the  Christian  Exa- 
miner, purporting-  to  be  a  review  of  the  sermon  entitled  "  The  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints."  It  is  addressed  to  the  Editor  of  the  Christian  Examiner,  as  it  was 
originally  designed  for  that  work,  but  was  afterwards  inserted  in  the  volume  of  the 
Christian  Spectator,  for  1825.] 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Christian  Examiner. 
Sir, 

I  RECEIVED  and  read  the  review  of  my  Sermon,  delivered  at  Worcester, 
in  your  number  for  January,  1824  :  and  most  of  the  remarks  which  I  propose  to 
submit  to  your  consideration  were  written  in  the  early  part  of  that  year  ;  but 
circumstances  which  I  need  not  explain,  have  prevented  their  publication 
until  now. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  or  claimed,  that  an  author  shall,  in  all  respects,  be 
gratified  in  the  exhibition  which  is  made  of  his  opinions  and  arguments :  and 
yet  there  are,  doubtless,  rules  of  controversy  which  the  laws  of  equity  ac- 
knowledge and  protect.  We  are  bound,  for  example,  if  we  attempt  to  answer 
an  extended  complex  argument,  to  give  the  argument  entire  ;  for  moral  evi- 
dence is  but  the  accumulation  of  probabilities ;  and  a  partial  statement  of  the 
argument  is  in  efTect  a  misrepresentation  of  it,  as  it  supposes  the  writer  to 
rely  on  the  argument  which  is  slated  and  replied  to,  when  it  may  be,  that  he 
relies  on  it  only  as  taken  in  connexion  with  the  facts  which  are  omitted. 

In  answering  a  complex  argument,  each  particular  which  goes  to  consti- 
tute the  entire  argument,,  should  be  stated  In  its  logical  form,  and  in  the  words 
of  the  writer,  or  "in  language  equally  intelligible.  Otherwise,  how  can  the 
reader  know  what  the  argument  is,  or  whether  the  reply  be  relevant  or  not  ? 
A  mere  allusion  to  the  argument,  witlu)ut  a  statement  of  it  in  logical  form, 
may  answer  the  purpose  of  evasion,  or  declamation,  or  irrelevant  reply,  but 
never  will  answer  the  purpose  of  fair  and  honorable  controversy. 

It  is  equally  plain  that  each  argument  replied  to,  should  be  met  and  an- 
swered as  it  is  understood  and  relied  on  by  our  antagonist. 

However  near,  the  reply  may  approach  to  the  point  of  the  argument,  if  it 
does  not  meet  it  directly,  the  more  ingenious  is  the  sopliistry,  and  the  more 


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provoking  arc  the  misrepresentations  ;  because,  being  numerous  and  of  such 
nice  discriniinalion,  the  reader  is  soon  tired  of  sitting  in  judgment  on  sucli 
Uttle  matters  ;  and  the  culprit  when  this  end  is  achieved,  tui'ns  and  hurls 
back  oQ  his  injured  antagonist  the  odium  of  nice  metaphysical  distinction,  and 
of  vain  jangling.  One  might  as  well  go  out  "  to  seek  a  flea,  or  to  hunt  a 
partridge  in  the  mountains,"  as  to  follow  up  with  argument  such  dodging  an- 
tagonists. And  whether  such  conduct  indicates  a  desire  to  know  the  truth  or 
to  avoid  it,  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive. 

Another  obvious  rule  of  controversial  equity  is,  that  where  matters  of  fact 
constitute  the  argument,  the  facts  be  noted  in  their  logical  bearing,  and  be 
replied  to  in  point.  Facts,  when  relevant,  constitute  the  most  invincible  ar- 
gument. Theories  are  nothing  in  their  presence,  and  no  honorable  alterna- 
tive remains,  but  to  show  their  irrelevancy,  or  to  admit  the  conclusion  to 
which  they  tend.  Silence  in  respect  to  them,  or  a  mere  allusion  to  them 
which  affords  no  conception  of  their  place  and  bearing  in  the  argument,  is 
inconsistent  with  argumentative  uprightness. 

Sliould  the  violation  of  these  rules  be  the  result  of  mistake,  it  would  evince 
only  incompetency  for  controversial  writing.  But  if  they  sliould  be  the  result 
of  design,  it  would  indicate  insincerity  in  our  search  after  truth,  and  a  dishon- 
orable and  criminal  disregard  of  moral  principle.  The  man,  who,  in  natural 
science,  should  resort  to  such  measures  to  conceal  or  baffle  the  argiunent  of 
his  antagonist,  would  be  regarded  justly  as  the  enemy  of  science.  But  how 
highly  is  the  crime  aggravated,  when  the  concealment  or  evasion  attempted 
respects  revealed  truth ;  and,  as  the  case  may  be,  those  truths  which  are 
necessary  to  save  men  from  destruction,  and  qualify  them  for  heaven  !  Such 
unworthy  conduct  in  theological  writers,  has  created  already,  an  extensive 
prejudice  against  controversy  as  the  means  of  discovering  truth  ;  and  the 
continuance  o*"  it  by  men  of  the  clerical  profession,  would  increase  that  preju- 
dice greatly,  and  would  justly  foifeit  the  confidence  which  a  christian  public 
ought  to  be  authorized  to  repose  in  their  spiritual  guides.  If  we  consider 
also,  the  unavoidable  imperfeotion  of  language  as  the  vehicle  of  thought, 
and  the  utter  inefficacy  of  civil  coercion  in  the  developement  and  preserva- 
tion of  truth,  we  shall  perceive  the  necessity  of  an  enlightened  public  opinion, 
which  shall  lay  the  tax  of  shame  and  of  crime  upon  argumentative  dishonesty. 
The  rights  of  conscience  are  not  to  be  invaded,  but  neither  are  they  to  be 
exercised  with  impunity  in  a  wanton  and  unprincipled  manner.  The  interests 
of  the  community  in  revealed  truth  are  as  sacred  as  the  rights  of  property  ;  and 
the  wilful  perversion  of  an  argument  ought  to  be  coupled  with  dishonor  and 
crime  in  the  public  estimation,  as  really,  as  chicanery  in  law,  the  sequestration 
of  property  by  theft,  or  the  perversion  of  justice  by  a  false  oath.  The  object 
of  religious  controversy  is  not  the  concealment,  but  the  discovery  of  the  truth  ; 
not  the  display  of  dexterity  in  evading  an  argument,  but  of  magnanimity  in 
embracing  its  results ;  not  the  gratification  of  our  pride,  but  the  edification  of 
our  hearts,  by  receiving  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it. 

Nothing,  1  am  aware,  is  more  common  than  mutual  accusations  of  unfair- 
ness in  religious  controversy,  and  the  sorry  exhibition  of  petulance  and  invec- 
tive :  and  the  disgust  I  have  f(flt  at  such  exhibitions  has  kept  me  from  personal 
controversy  to  this  day.  And  if  I  thought  that  in  the  remarks  I  am  about  to 
make,  I  sould  only  add  to  these  humiliating  specimens  of  indiecility  and  acri- 
mony, I  would  instantly  lay  down  my  pen.  But  the  subject  of  the  sermon  is 
one  on  which  I  have  entered  with  other  motives  than  the  desire  of  victory, 
and  with  other  feelings  towards  Unitarians  than  those  of  unkindness,  1  be- 
lieve sincerely,  that  the  doctrines  which  they  reject  are  the  Gospel,  and  are 
necessaiy  to  their  salvation  ; — that  the  truth  only  is  able  to  save  them  ;  and 
that  error,  however  sincerely  believed,  will  not  save  them.  I  had  occasion 
to  know  that  those  who  sit  under  Unitarian  ministrations,  do,  extensively  and 
greatly,  misapprehend  the  doctrines  which  are  held  by  the  Ortiiodox  ;  and  that 
they  do  honestly  suppose  tlie  Orthodox  to  believe  and  teach  things  which  they 
utterly  disclaim  and  abhor.  It  was  my  wish,  therefore,  to  place  before  these 
children  of  the  pilgrims,  a  plain,  popular  statement  of  the  doctrines  of  their 


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fathers,  as  (hey  are  now  understood  aud  believed  by  their  Orthodox  brethren  : 
believing;,  that  they  with  us,  may  as  yet  be  within  the  circumference  of  that 
covenant,  whose  blcssin<;s  go  down  to  the  thousandth  generation  of  them  that 
fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments,  as  our  fathers  feared  and  obeyed.  1 
wished  also  to  accompany  this  explanatory  statement  of  the  Orthodox  faith 
with  some  of  those  arguments  which  have  long,  to  my  mind,  aj)peared  unan- 
swerable. And,  Sir,  1  did  indulge  the  hope,  that  the  truth,  freed  from  misap- 
prehension aud  contemplated  in  its  native  majesty,  simplicity,  aud  beauty,  and 
attended  by  its  proper  evidence,  might  allay  the  prejudices  of  many  against 
it,  commend  itself  to  their  consciences  and  their  hearts,  and  become  to  them 
the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation.  But  however  this 
hope  might  be  realized  or  not,  I  did  expect  the  gratification  of  knowing,  and 
felt  no  small  degree  of  curiosity  to  know,  what  could  be  said  to  an  argument, 
in  which  I  could  detect  no  fallacy,  by  able  and  honest  men  who  should  look 
it  in  the  face  and  answer  it  to  the  point. 

And  now.  Sir,  allow  me  to  say,  that  it  affofds  me  no  pleasure  to  affirm  that 
my  motives  in  writing  and  in  de.siring  an  answer  have  been  defeated,  so  far 
as  the  influence  of  the  review  is  concerned  ;  and  defeated  in  a  manner,  which 
involves,  in  my  judgment,  a  violation  of  the  preceding  equitable  rules  of  con- 
ti-oversy.  No  person  who  reads  only  the  review,  can  possibly  possess  himself 
of  my  entire  argmnent ;  or  understand  the  logical  point  and  bearing  of  each 
particular  argument ;  or  what  generally,  are  the  matters  of  fact  relied  on  ;  or 
what  is  the  logical  bearing  cf,those  which  are  alluded  to.  And  what  is  still 
more  to  be  regretted  is,  that  the  reply  to  particular  arguments  which  is 
attempted,  is  made  to  the  arguments,  rather  as  alluded  to,  than  as  logically 
stated — and  evades  the  point  of  the  argument,  by  replying  to  a  position  wliich 
the  argument  no  where  assumes.  I  am  far  from  charging  the  reviewer  with 
design  in  this  logical  aberration.  But  it  did  early  occur  to  my  mind,  and  has 
repeatedly  been  suggested  to  me  by  others,  that  if  the  reviewer  had  feared 
the  effect  of  the  doctrines  and  arguments  as  stated  in  the  sermon,  upon 
Unitarian  congregations ;  and  had  set  himself  to  write  a  review  which  should 
prevent  them  from  knowing  how  the  doctrines  were  stated,  and  by  what 
arguments  they  were  supported  ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  create  such  a  preju- 
dice against  the  sermon  as  would  keep  the  people  generally  from  reading  and 
judging  for  themselves,  he  could  not  have  managed  more  adroitly  than  he  has 
done. 

But  in  addition  to  this  disappointment  of  all  rny  reasonable,  and  as  I  must 
say,  my  benevolent  hopes  ;  I  am  charged  with  duplicity  in  what  I  have  done. 
According  to  the  reviewer,  I  have  given  an  epitome  of  doctrine  as  the  faith 
delivered  to  the  saints,  which  is  decidedly  anti-calvinistic,  and  have  falsely 
claimed  that  it  is  substantially  the  faith  of  the  reformers,  the  Puritans,  the 
fathers  of  New  England,  and  the  great  body  of  the  Orthodox  in  our  country. 
Thus  disappointed  and  misrepresented,  I  have  to  request  that  you  will  do  me 
the  justice  to  re-publish  £C  corrected  statement  of  my  argument,  and  a  vindi- 
cation of  my  good  name  in  your  Miscellany, — the  only  vehicle  of  informa- 
tion which  can  render  the  redress  as  extensive  as  the  injury.  The  love  and 
fearless  pursuit  of  the  truth,  professed  by  Unitarians,  justify  the  confidence 
with  which  1  appeal  both  to  your  candor  and  to  your  magnanimity.  Should 
the  length  of  the  article  seem  to  furnish  an  apology  for  declining  its  insertion, 
you  will  readily  perceive  that,  if  the  mistakes  in  the  review  had  been  fewer, 
my  reply  had  been  proportionably  shorter ;  and  that  equity  demands  that  the 
explanation  be  co-extensive  with  the  occasions  for  it  -which  are  created  by 
misi-epresentations,  however  undesigned.  Had  my  arguments  been  sup- 
pressed, or  misrepresented  by  typographical  mistakes,  the  length  of  the 
errata  would  not  be  deemed  a  reason  for  refusing  their  insertion  ;  and  it  will 
not  seem  to  you,  I  trust,  a  matter  of  much  consequence  in  respect  to  the 
claims  of  justice,  whether  the  causes  of  the  injury  sustained  are  mechanical, 
or  intellectual,  or  moral. 

I  shall  first  attend  to  the  charge  preferred  against  me,  of  substituting  the 
Arminian  for  the  Calvinistic  system  ;  and  of  claiming,  (ignoruntly  or  wick- 


322 

etlly,)  that  it  is  the  faith  of  the  Orthodox  now,  and  the  faith  of  the  fathers  of 
New  England, — of  the  puritans  and  of  the  reformers. 

This  system,  which  I  have  denominated  evangelical,  the  reviewer  declares 
to  be  an  innovation  upon  the  popular  (Calvinistic)  faith  ;  and  that  it  is  neither 
strictly,  nor  even  substantiallj',  the  same  with  the  doctrines  held  by  the  re- 
formers, the  puritans,  the  fathers  of  New  England,  or  the  great  body  of  the 
Orthodox  in  our  countiy.  It  is,  he  declares,  "  decidedly  anti-calvinistic  ;  ex- 
pressly denying  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  Calvinism ;  distinctly  asserting 
none  of  them,  nor  even  implying  one  of  them,  in  a  manner  to  make  it  obvious 
to  the  mind  of  a  common  reader."     Upon  these  charges  I  remark, 

1.  That  the  Calvinistic  and  anti-calvinistic  systems  of  doctrine  are  in 
direct  opposition  on  those  points  which  constitute  the  two  systems  ;  and  that 
between  them  there  is  no  middle  system.  Man  is,  or  he  is  not,  entirely  de- 
praved ;  he  needs,  or  he  does  not  need,  a  moral  renovation  to  fit  him  for 
heaven.  This  renovation  is  achieved  by  the  special  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  a  free  sovereign  gift ;  or  it  is  in  some  way  secured  by  good  works, 
and  hmuan  endeavors.  Men  are  justiiied  by  faith  only,  or  they  are  not ;  and 
all  saints  do  persevere,  or  they  do  not.  Calvinists  take  one  side  on  these 
points,  and  Arminians  take  the  other ;  and  there  is  no  middle  ground. 

2.  The  Armiiiian  system  of  doctrine  and  the  Unitarian  are  the  same  on 
those  points,  in  which  both  differ  from  the  Calvinistic  system.  Unitarians 
acted  with  the  remonstrants  when  the  Arminian  system  was  formed.  It  is 
the  system  adopted  generally,  and  defended  iik  opposition  to  Calvinism,  by 
English  Unitarians,  aiid  is  tlic  system  substantially,  which  Dr.  Ware  supports 
in  agreement  with  Taylor,  and  in  opposition  to  Edwards  and  Dr.  Woods.  The 
Arminian  and  Unitarian  systems  of  doctrine  are  therefore  the  same,  as  op- 
posed to  Calvinism. 

3.  Unitarians  claim  that  the  anli-calvinistic  system  is  thfe  true  primitive 
fixith.  They  hold  that  their  interpretation  of  the  Bible  on  the  doctrinal  points, 
is  according  to  the  mind  of  the  spirit — is  the  truth  as  understood  and  professed 
by  the  primitive  church  : — Therefore, 

4.  The  doctrines  contained  in  the  evangelical  system,  as  it  is  denominated 
in  the  sermon,  are  the  faith  dehvered  to  the  saints,  the  reviewer  himself  being 
judge.  He  does  not  complain  of  me  for  claiming  them  as  such,  but  only  for 
claiming  their  agreemen^^ith  the  Cahdnistic  system — which  he  denies.  He 
declares  that  tlie  Calvinistic  system  is  not,  and  thai  the  anti-calvinistic  system 
is,  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  ;  and  that  the  sy.-tcm  which  I  have  set  forth 
is  decidedly  anti-calvinistic,  and  is  of  course  the  fidth  once  delivered  to  the 
saints.  The  reviewer  therefore  claims  the  doctrines  laid  down  in  the  evan- 
gelical system  as  the  true  anti-calvinistic.  Unitarian,  primitive  faith.  He 
claims  that  I  have  abandoned  the  Calvinistic  system,  and  have  come  over  to 
the  Arminian  Unitarian  faith  ;  and  the  only  front  of  my  offending  is,  that  not 
having  the  capacity  to  perceive,  or  the  magnanimity  to  avow  my  conversion 
to  A.rminianism,  I  have  attempted  to  persuade  the  puhlic  that  this  anti-calvin- 
istic Unitarian  creed  of  mine  is  substantially  the  faith  of  the  reformers,  the 
puritans,  the  fathers  of  New  England,  and  the  great  body  of  the  Orthodox  in 
our  country. 

WTien  I  lirst  read  these  charges,  I  was  disposed  to  bestow  a  smile  upon 
tliem,  and  let  them  pass.  But  in  attending  to  the  course  of  the  controversy 
between  Unitarians  and  the  Orthodox,  I  perceived  what  appeared  to  me  a 
settled  determination  in  Unitarians,  to  make  the  impression  on  the  public 
mind,  that  every  variation  in  the  explanation,  statement,  and  proof  of  our 
doctrines,  occasioned  by  the  progress  of  mental  philosophy,  or  of  biblical 
criticism,  or  by  Unitarian  misrepresentations,  is  an  abandonment  of  our  first 
principles  and  an  approximation  to  Unitarianism.  I  have  heard  the  boastings 
reiterated  of  Professor  Stuart's  approximation  to  Unitarianism,  and  of  my 
own  Arminian  tendencies  in  preaching :  and  lately  I  have  read  in  Dr.  Chan- 
ning's  sermon,  that  "  It  is  a  plain  matter  of  fact,  that  the  hard  features  of 
lliat  religious  system,  which  has  been  '  received  by  tradition  fiom  our  fathers,' 
arc   greatly  softened  ;    and  that  a  necessity  is  felt  by  those  who  hold  it,  of 


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accommodating  their  representations  of  it  more  and  more  to  the  improved 
philosophy  of  the  human  mind,  and  to  the  undeniable  principles  of  natural 
and  revealed  religion.  Unconditional  election  is  seldom  heard  of  among  us. 
The  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  to  his  posterity,  is  hastening  to  join  the  explo- 
ded doctrine  of  transubstantiation.  The  more  revolting  representations  of 
man's  state  by  nature  arc  judiciously  kept  out  of  sight ;  and,  what  is  of  slill 
greater  importance,  preaching  is  incomparably  more  practical  than  formerly."* 

I  have  concluded,  therefore,  that  the  time  has  come  which  demands  an 
examination  of  these  claims.  If  Calvinists  are  becoming  Unitarians  in  doc- 
trine, without  the  capacity  to  know  it,  or  the  magnanimity  to  own  it ;  let  it 
be  known,  and  let  them  have  their  reward.  And  if  Unitarian  writers  are 
setting  up  their  claim  falsely,  from  ignorance,  or  from  an  apprehension  that 
the  Calvinistic  system  presented  to  their  people  as  Calvinists  believe  and 
teach  it,  woidd  convict  them  of  misrepresentation,  and  bring  upon  them  the 
just  indignation  of  an  injured  community  whose  confidence  they  have  abu- 
sed ;  then  let  this  be  known,  and  let  Unitarians  have  their  reward. 

I  come  then  to  the  question,  ai-e  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  discourse, 
entitled  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  the  same,  substantially,  with 
the  doctrines  held  by  the  reformers,  the  puritans,  the  fathers  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  which  are  now  held  by 'the  great  body  of  the  Orthodox  in  our  coun- 
try ; — or  are  they  "  decidedly  anti-calvinistic,"  exhibiting,  substantially,  the 
system  which  has  been  embraced  by  Arminians  and  Unitarians  ? 

I  claim  that  the  epitome  in  the  sermon  embodies  substantially,  and  repre- 
sents fairly,  all  the  elementary  and  fundamental  principles  of  that  system 
which  have  been  denominated  Calvinistic  ;  and  the  reviewer  claims  that  they 
are  an  "  innovation  upon  the  popular  Calvinistic  faith  ;  that  they  err  and  stray 
entirely  from  the  Calvinistic  system  ;  and  are  decidedly  anti-calvinistic." 

1.  My  first  remark  is,  that  if  the  system  of  doctrines  which  I  have  set  forth 
is  decidedly  anti-calvinistic  or  Unitarian,  then  the  world  hitherto  has  been 
very  much  disquieted  in  vain  on  the  subject  of  doctrinal  disagi-eement ;  for  if 
this  creed  of  mine  be  Arminian  or  Unitarian,  it  is  no  less  true,  as  J.  shall  be 
able  to  show,  that  it  is  substantially  Calvinistic — so  that  the  controversialists 
on  both  sides  have  walked  hitherto  in  a  vain  show,  and  have  so  fought  as  men 
that  beat  the  air. 

*  If  the  meaning  of  Dr.  Clianniiig  be,  tiial  the  doctruies  whicii,  as  mere  abstract 
positions  wear  a  repelling  aspect,  are,  as  now  explained,  seen  to  be  the  regular  parts 
of  a  great  system  of  moral  government,  in  the  EKlmmislration  of  whicli  justice  and 
mercy  are  reconciled,  and  that  menial  philosophy  has  lent  her  aid  in  this  exposition  ; — 
that  the  doctrine  of  election  is  now  so  stated  as  admits  of  accountability  and  punish- 
ment, and  stops  the  mouths  of  gaiusayers ; — that  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  and  of 
Christ's  righteousness  are  so  stated,  as  to  appear  both  practicable  and  rational  ;  and 
that  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity  is  now  exjjlained  in  a  manner  which  shows  both 
the  falsehood  and  the  absurdity  of  the  statements  and  ol^jections  made  concerning  it, 
by  its  opponents  ; — or  that,  as  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  are  belter  understood,  they 
produce  an  increase  of  practical  preaching  ;  it  might  all  be  admitted  as  a  concise 
account  of  what  we  believe  to  be  true.  But  if  Dr.  C.  intends  to  insinuate  or  to  say, 
that  any  one  doctrine  of  the  reformation  has  been  given  up,  or  the  principle  abandon- 
ed on  which  it  has  always  rested,  we  request  him  to  review  this  position,  and  lo  fortify 
it  by  evidence,  or  abandon  it.  Not  one  of  the  first  principles  of  llie  doctrinal  system 
of  the  reformers  has  been  abandoned,  while  cverj'  one  of  them  has  been  corroborated 
by  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  mental  philosophy,  and  of  scriptural  interpretation. 
The  entire  system  ne\'er  stood  so  impregnable  as  now,  and  never  appeared  so  intelli- 
gible, so  reasonable,  so  amiable,  and  at  the  same  time,  so  terrible  to  guilty  con- 
sciences, as  now.  And  if  Dr.  C.  supposes  that  the  doctrine  of  man's  deprayity,  or 
the  doctrine  of  election,  is  not  preached  as  often  as  they  were,  and  that  Calvinists  are 
holduig  their  peace  on  tliese  points,  he  follows  his  own  imagination  instead  of  histori- 
cal verity. 

All  the  great  doctrines  of  the  reformation  are  preached  more  frequently,  and  more 
plainly  and  powerfully  by  the  Orlhodox  in  New  England,  than  they  were  fifty,  or  even 
thirty  years  ago  ;  and  their  faithful  exhibition  is  attended  by  tlie  power  of  God  in 
lliose  increasing  revivals  of  religion  which  are  carrying  salvation  through  our 
land.  '  * 


324 

2.  If  the  epitome  is  decidedly  anli-calvinistic  and  Unitarian,  then  Sir,  the 
age  of  doctrinal  controversy  is  ended,  and  the  millennial  agreement  of  the 
watchmen,  seeing  eye  to  eye,  is  begun.  For  I  have  evidence,  which  I  will 
produce  in  its  place,  that  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  discourse  are  substan- 
tially Calvinistic,  and  are  so  regarded  by  the  Orthodox  in  tliis  country,  and 
by  the  reviewer  himself.  If  then  it  is  at  the  same  time  sufficiently  happy  in 
its  terms  to  express  the  views  of  truth  embraced  by  Arminians  and  Unitari- 
ans, then  doctrinal  controversy  is  ended,  and  the  age  of  concord  is  begun. 

At  this  auspicious  moment,  let  us  look  at  the  articles  of  pacification — at  this 
Unitarian  creed  ;  the  most  exphcit,  if  not  the  first,  which  has  ever  been  pub- 
lished in  this  country. 

Article  1.  Unitarians  believe,  "  That  men  are  free  agents,  in  the  possession  of 
such  facullies,  and  placed  in  such  circumstances,  as  to  render  it  practicable  for  them 
to  do  whatever  God  requires  ;  reasonable  that  he  sliould  require  it,  and  fit  that  he 
should  inflict,  literally,  the  entire  penalty  of  disobedience  ; — such  ability  is  here 
intended,  as  lays  a  perfect  foundation  for  government  I13'  law,  and  for  rewards  and 
punishments  according  to  deeds." 

Art.  2.  Unitarians  believe,  "  That  the  law  of  God  requires  love  to  God  with  all 
the  heart,  and  impartial  love  for  men  ;  together  with  certain  overt  duties  to  God  and 
men,  by  which  lliis  love  is  to  be  expressed  ;  and  that  this  law  is  supported  by  the 
sanctions  of  eternal  life  and  eternal  death." 

Art.  3.  Unitarians  believe,  "  That  the  ancestors  of  our  race  violated  this  law  ;  that, 
in  some  way,  as  a  consequence  of  their  apostasy,  all  men,  as  soon  as  they  become 
capable  of  accountable  action,  do,  of  their  oim  accord,  most  freehj,  and  most  icickedly, 
withhold  from  God  llie  supreme  love  and  from  man  the  imparticd  love  which  the  law 
requires,  beside  violating  many  of  its  practical  precepts  ;  and  that  the  obedience  of 
the  heart  which  the  law  requires,  has  ceased  entirely  from  the  whole  race  of  man." 

Art.  4.  Unitarians  believe, "  That,  according  to  the  principles  of  moral  government, 
obedience,  either  antecedent  to  transgression  or  subsequent,  cannot  avert  the  penalty 
of  law  ;  ai»d  that  pardon,  upon  condition  of  repentance  merely,  would  destroy  the 
efficacy  of  moral  government." 

Art.  3.  Unitarians  believe,  "  That  an  atonement  has  been  made  for  sin  by  Jesus 
Christ,  with  reference  to  which,  God  can  maintain  the  influence  of  his  law  and  for- 
give sin,  upon  condition  of  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ : — that  all  men  are  invited  sincerely,  in  this  way  to  return  to  God,  with  an 
assurance  of  pardon  and  eternal  life  if  they  compi}'." 

Art.  6.  Unitarians  believe,  "That  a  compliance  with  these  conditions,  is  practi- 
cable, in  the  regular  exercise  of  the  powers  and  faculties  given  to  man  as  an  accoun- 
table creature  ;  and  is  prevented  only  by  the  exercise  of  a  voluntary',  criminal  aver- 
sion to  God,  so  inflexibly  obstinate,  that  by  motives  merely,  men  are  never  persuaded 
to  repent  and  believe." 

Art.  7.  Unitarians  believe,  "  That  God  is  able,  by  his  Spirit,  to  make  to  the  mind 
of  man  such  an  exhibition  of  the  truth,  as  shall  unfailingly  convince  him  of  sin,  ren- 
der him  willing  to  obey  the  Gospel,  and  actually  and  joyfully  obedient." 

Art.  8.  Unitarians  believe,  "  Thatthisspecial  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given 
according  to  the  supreme  discretion,  or  good  pleasure  of  God  ;  and  yet,  ordinarily, 
is  so  inseparably  associated  with  the  use  of  means  by  the  sinner,  as  to  create  ample 
encouragement  to  attend  upon  them,  and  to  render  all  hopes  of  conversion  while 
neglecting  or  rejecting  the  truth,  or  while  living  in  open  sin,  eminently  presump- 
tuous." 

Art.  9.  Unitarians  believe,  "  That  believers  are  justified  by  the  merits  of  Christ 
through  faith  ;  and  are  received  into  a  covenant  with  God,  which  secures  Uieir  con- 
tinuance in  holiness  forever; — while  those  who  die  in  their  sins,  will  continue  to  sin 
wilfully,  and  to  be  punished  justly  for  ever." 

Art.  10.  Unitarians  believe,  finally,  "  That  God  exercises  a  providential  govern- 
ment; which  extends  to  all  events  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  lay  a  just  fbimdation  for 
resignation  to  him  in  afflictions  brought  upon  us  by  the  wickedness  of  men,  and  for 
gratitude  in  the  reception  of  good  in  all  the  various  modes  of  human  instrumentality' ; 
— that  all  events  sliall  illustrate  his  glory,  and  be  made  subservient  to  the  good  of  his 
kingdom  ; — and  that  this  government  is  administered  in  accordance  with  a  purpose  or 
plan,  known  and  approved  of  by  him  from  tlie  beginning." 

This,  then,  is  the  creed,  which  the  reviewer  pronounces  anti-calvinistic, 
and  as  embodying,  of  course,  and  setting  forth  the  faith  of  Unitarians.  If  I 
co^d  oidy  be  aissured,  that  tlie  reviewer  understood  the  epitome,  when  he 


325 

wrote  ;  and  iinderstood  the  doctrinal  opinions  of  Unitarians  ;  and  that  he  does, 
'  ex  animo,'  believe  what  is  stated  in  the  creed  contained  in  the  sermon,  I 
should  give  myself  up  to  unniingled  joy.  But  I  have  known  persons,  and 
ministers  too,  and  even  Orthodox  ministers,  who,  having  treasured  up  sounds 
instead  of  ideas,  could  never  recognise  a  doctrine  as  the  same,  if  it  was  sta- 
ted in  any  language,  but  that  to  which  their  ears  had  been  accustomed.  It 
has  been  claimed  also,  if  I  mistake  not,  by  Unitarians,  that  there  are  five  or 
six  hundred  Unitarian  ministers  in  the  church  of  Old  England,  who  have  de- 
clared that  they  do,  without  equivocation  or  mental  reservation,  believe  in 
articles,  which  they  do,  '  ex  animo,'  disbelieve  and  despise. 

The  reviewer  also  has  told  us,  that  Unitarian  views  of  the  christian  graces  may 
be  difTerent  from  ours ;  and  I  see  not  why  our  views  of  christian  morality, 
may  not  ditler  from  theirs  as  much  ; — theirs  authorizing  them  to  say  and  do 
things  upon  principles  of  expediency,  which  the  Orthodox  might  regard  a» 
inconsistent  with  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity. 

It  has  even  been  thought  and  said  by  some,  that  Unitarians  have  felt  them- 
selves at  liberty  to  display  more  dexterity  than  honesty,  in  disposing  of  a 
troublesome  argument ;  never  taking  it  by  the  horns,  when  it  might,  perad- 
venture,  be  seen  to  push  them  ;  and  sometimes  doing  just  nothing  at  all  with 
it,  upon  the  principle  that  some  arguments  are  more  easily  forgotten  than  an- 
swered ;  and  sometimes  even  claiming  the  argument  to  which  resistance  might 
have  been  hazardous.  This  last  is  the  master  stroke  of  policy.  For  what 
but  discomfiture  can  an  antagonist  expect,  when,  if  he  reasons  inconclusively, 
he  is  sure  to  be  detected  ;  and  if  he  reasons  conclusively,  he  is  sure  to  be 
claimed  as  in  unison  with  the  enemy  ?  We  are  delivered,  however,  in  the 
present  case,  from  the  apprehension  of  insincerity,  or  of  artifice,  on  the  part 
of  the  reviewer ;  since  he  brings  against  me  publicly  a  charge,  implicating 
my  intellect  or  my  honesty,  in  pretending  that  the  creed  which  I  have  given 
is  substantially  Calvinistic  ; — a  thing  which  neither  his  honor  as  a  man,  nor 
his  conscience  as  a  christian,  would  allow  him  to  do,  if  he  did  not  '  ex  animo' 
believe  that  my  creed  is,  as  he  declares  it  to  be,  decidedly  anti-calvinistic,  and 
of  course,  decidedly  Arminian  and  Unitarian.  Have  then  the  Unitarians 
come  over  to  the  Calvinists ;  or  have  the  Calvinists  gone  over  to  them  ?  This 
is  the  question. 

It  is  certainly  an  unexpected  task  which  devolves  upon  me,  of  proving  that 
my  doctrinal  opinions  are  Calvinistic.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  exhaust  the 
subject  now  ;  but  if  after  reading  the  evidence  which  I  submit  to  his  conside- 
ration, the  reviewer  shall  remain  skeptical  and  call  for  more,  it  shall  be  at 
his  service. 

As  evidence  then,  that  the  doctrinal  system  contained  in  the  epitome  is 
substantially  Calvinistic,  I  submit  the  following : 

1.  It  is  the  doctrinal  system  which  I  have  exhibited  in  my  public  ministry 
for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  which  has  secured  to  me  without  contradic- 
tion until  now,  the  reputation  of  being  a  Calvinist.  Could  this  have  hap- 
pened, if  my  system  of  belief  were  decidedly  anti-calvinistic  ?  Have  Cal- 
vinists and  Arminians  misunderstood  my  doctrinal  opinions,  until  now  ? 

2.  Since  the  publication  of  the  sermon,  I  have  been  neither  admonished 
of  heresy,  nor  denounced  for  it  by  any  of  my  Calvinistic  brethren ;  and, 
commonly,  the  Orthodox  are  not  slow  to  denounce  apostates,  especially  in 
Connecticut,  Unitarians  themselves  being  judges. 

3.  I  have  received  from  Unitarians  none  of  those  tokens  of  complacency, 
which  they  are  wont  to  bestow  upon  apostates  from  Orthodoxy.  Not  one 
of  the  thousand  trumpets  which  blow  the  fame  of  favored  Unitarians,  has 
swelled  a  note  in  my  praise  ;  and  no  Unitarian  press  has  groaned  with  a 
second  and  third  edition  of  this  anti-calvinistic  sermon,  for  gratuitous  distri- 
bution. 

4.  Even  the  reviewer  is  not  softened  by  his  own  convictions  of  my  anti- 
calvinism  into  complacency  and  good  feeling,  but  goes  on  throughout  the  re- 
view, smiting,  as  if  he  were  contending  with  a  real  antagonist.  Could  this 
have  happened  if  he  had  only  found  a  convert  from  Calvinism,  whose  sole 

42 


326 

fault  was,  that  he  had  not  as  yet  found  out  that  he  had  come  over  to  the  Uni- 
tarian faith  ?  Indeed,  I  have  attempted  in  vain  to  discover  how  an  anti-cal- 
vinistic  creed,  claiming  to  be  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints,  should  be  re- 
garded as  furnishing  an  occasion  for  proving  that  Calvinism  is  not  the  primi- 
tive faith.  Had  I  any  where  asserted,  that  Calvinism  is  the  primitive  faith  ? 
I  had  not  named  the  term.  Was  the  evangelical  system,  however,  so  de- 
cidedly Calvinistic  in  its  bearings,  that  it  must  fall  of  course  to  the  ground, 
if  it  could  be  proved  that  Calvinism  is  not  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  ? 
By  no  means.  The  doctrines  laid  down  in  the  sermon,  are  an  "  innovation 
upon  the  popular  faith"  of  Calvinists.  They  are  "decidedly  anti-calvinistic." 
They  are  the  doctrinal  articles  of  Arminians  and  Unitarians ;  and  yet  in  re- 
viewing this  decidedly  anti-calvinistic  Unitarian  creed,  a  great  effort  is  made, 
to  prove  that  Calvinism  is  not  the  faith  dehvered  to  the  saints.  Would  not 
the  reviewer  have  put  forth  his  strength  to  as  much  purpose,  if  he  had  la- 
bored to  prove  that  Mahometanism  was  not  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  ? 

5.  I  have  made  inquiry  far  and  wide,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether 
I  had,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Orthodox  of  any  class,  as  I  have  in  the  opinion 
of  the  reviewer,  "  erred  and  strayed  entirely  "  from  the  Calvinistic  system. 
But  while  some  differ  with  me  on  subordinate  points,  or  modes  of  explanation, 
all  without  exception  from  whom  I  have  heard,  have  admitted  that  the  sermon 
contains,  substantially,  a  true  account  of  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  ; 
and  a  true  accoimt  of  what  have  been  denonunated  the  doctrines  of  the  re- 
formation and  of  the  Orthodox  faith  as  held  in  this  country. 

Dr.  Green  of  Philadelphia,  the  editor  of  the  Christian  Advocate,  says,  in 
a  review  of  my  sermon,  that  I  belong  to  a  class  of  ministers  who  are  Cal- 
vinists ;  that  the  evangelical  system  will  no  doubt  be  considered  as  a  Calvin- 
istic statement;  that  I  claim,  and  justly,  all  Calvinists  of  whatever  descrip- 
tion, as  belonging  to  those  who  hold  the  evangelical  system,  though  all  of 
them  would  not  of  course  subscribe  to  every  statement  it  contains  ; — but  no 
man  understands  more  fully  than  Dr.  Green  does,  the  doctrinal  articles  of  the 
Presbyterian  confession  of  faith,  and  the  prevailing  views  of  the  Presbyterian 
cnurch.  The  class  of  Calvinists  to  which  Dr.  Green  supposes  I  belong,  are 
probably,  the  Calvinists  of  Connecticut,  and  of  New  England  generally.  But 
are  not  the  Orthodox  clergy  of  Connecticut  and  New  England,  Calvinists  ? 
Are  not  the  Professors  at  Andover  Calvinistic  ?  and  yet  no  complaint  from 
that  source  has  been  made  against  the  sermon  as  anti-calvinistic  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  has  been  recognised  by  the  Professors  as  being  what  it  claims  to  be, 
substantially  Calvinistic. 

But  I  have  in  reserve  an  authority  to  which  the  reviewer  will,  I  have  no 
doubt,  do  ample  justice.     It  is  his  own  opinion,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  VVe  doubt  not  that  Dr.  B.  is  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind,  that  the  true  import 
of  Scripture  favors  Ids  system,  but  not  more  so  than  we  are,  that  it  favors  ours." 

Ah  !  Dr.  B's  sj'stem  and  our  system  ;  and  Dr.  B.  supporting  his  system 
by  one  interpretation  of  the  Bible,  and  the  reviewer  by  another,  and  a  differ- 
ent interpretation  ?  Dr.  B.'s  system  is  not  the  same  then  with  that  adopted 
by  the  reviewer  and  his  Unitarian  brethren.  They  and  Dr.  B.,  according  to 
the  reviewer,  differ,  and  differ  too  on  points  where  no  difference  is  possible 
hut  that  of  opposition.  The  Unitarian  system  is  confessedly  anti-calvinistic ; 
and  Dr.  B.  differs  from  this  system,  and  of  course  is  Calvinistic  :  and  yet  a 
little  while  ago,  Dr.  B.'s  system  was  '  decidedly  anti-calvinistic,'  an  '  innova- 
tion upon  the  popular  faith,'  '  erring  and  straying  entirely'  from  the  Calvin- 
istic system.  It  is  hoped  that  the  reviewer  will  be  able  to  reconcile  these 
.seeming  contrarieties  of  his  own  declarations ;  or  if  he  should  be  unable 
to  do  this,  that  he  will  tell  us  which  of  the  two  declarations — that  the  evan- 
gelical system  is  Calvinistic,  or  that  it  is  anti-calvinistic, — contains  his  real 
opinion:  and  that  the  public  in  the  mean  time  will  suspend  their  judgment, 
until  the  reviewer  shall  have  had  an  opportunity  to  shed  Ught  upon  the  sub- 
ject. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  submit  to  your  consideration  some  fiu'ther  evidence, 


327 

a  little  more  direct,  that  the  doctrines  laid  down  in  the  sermon  are  substan- 
tially Calvinistic,  and  no  innovation  upon  the  popular  faith. 

And  here  it  would  seem  desirable  to  have  a  definition  of  Calvinism.  But 
I  find  none  in  the  i-eview,  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  one  in  any  Uni- 
tarian writer ;  and  I  cannot  but  think  it  a  hardship  that  one  of  the  parties  in 
a  dispute  shoiUd  be  required  to  make  the  definitions  on  both  sides  ; — giving  to 
the  enemy  a  tangible  object  of  assault  from  his  moveable  and  undefined  bat- 
ter}'. Critics  however,  inform  us,  that  the  import  of  undefined  terms  may  be 
ascertained  by  their  incidental  use ;  and  blessed  with  no  other  li«ht,  I  have 
endeavored  to  asceitain  wliat  the  reviewer  understands  by  Calvinism.  I 
perceive  then,  that  the  topics  from  which  he  infers  my  anti-calvinism,  are  the 
doctrines  of  free  agency,  of  original  sin,  total  depravity,  the  atonement,  and 
the  use  of  means.  Now  as  what  I  have  advanced  on  these  subjects  is  de- 
clared to  be  anti-calvinism, — Calvinism  must  be  just  the  opposite  of  what  I 
have  laid  down.  But  what  have  I  taught .'  That  man  is  a  free  agent,  in  the 
possession  of  such  powers  as  lays  a  foundation  for  moral  government ; — that 
original  sin  is  not  a  physical  property  of  the  soul,  but  voluntary  and  accounta- 
ble ; — that  pardon  cannot  be  granted  upon  repentance  merelj',  and  that  an 
atonement  has  been  made  for  sin,  to  reconcile  pardon  with  law ; — that  God 
renews  the  heart  by  the  instrumentality  of  truth,  and  that  there  is  great  en- 
couragement for  sinners  to  use  the  means  of  grace,  and  great  presumption  in 
the  neglect  of  them.  What  the  reviewer  quotes  from  the  sermon  on  these 
subjects,  is  enough,  he  says,  to  show  that,  according  to  Dr.  Beecher,  the  faith 
delivered  to  the  saints  is  decidedly  anti-calvinistic. 

The  anti-calvinism  of  the  primitive  church  is  proved  by  quotations  from 
the  fathers,  which  show  that,  in  their  opinion,  things  do  not  come  to  pass 
according  to  a  necessity  of  fote  ;  that  mankind  are  free  agents  and  accountable 
for  their  deeds,  and  are  liable  to  rewards  and  punishments  according  to  the 
worth  of  the  actions  of  every  one  ;  that  not  a  single  one  is  formed  wicked  by 
the  Creator  of  all  things  ;  that  the  atonement  is  made  for  all  men,  and  not  for 
a  part  merely  ;  and  that  those  to  whom  the  Gospel  is  preached,  perish  through 
their  own  fault,  and  not  from  the  limitation  of  the  atonement,  or  by  any 
physical  inability  or  fatal  necessity.  These  positions  then,  from  my  discourse 
and  from  the  fathers,  being  in  the  opinion  of  the  reviewer,  enough  to  prove 
that  both  my  opinions  and  theirs  are  decidedly  anti-calvinistic — Calvinism,  as 
being  the  opposite  of  these,  must  be  supposed  to  teach  that  things  happen 
according  to  fate ;  that  mankind  are  not  free  agents,  in  the  possession  of  any 
such  ability  as  lays  a  perfect  foundation  for  government  by  law ;  and  that 
there  are  no  moral  qualities  in  actions,  and  that  mankind  are  not  to  be 
rewarded  or  punished  according  to  their  deeds  ;  that  God  creates  in  man  a 
sinful  nature ;  that  pardon  upon  condition  of  repentance  merely,  is  consistent 
with  moral  government;  that  no  atonement  is  necessary  or  has  been  made  ; 
that  God  renews  the  hearts  of  men  without  the  instrumentality  of  truth,  and 
that  sinners  have  no  encouragement  to  use  yhe  means  of  grace ;  that  men  do 
not  fail  of  salvation  by  their  own  fault,  but  by  the  limitation  of  the  atonement, 
or  a  physical  inaljility  to  obey  the  Gospel.  But  are  these  the  doctrinal  opin- 
ions of  Calvinists  ?  Do  they  believe  and  teach  the  doctrine  of  fate,  and  deny 
the  doctrine  of  man's  free  agency,  and  of  rewards  and  punishments  in  a  future 
state  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body  ;  that  God  creates  in  man  a 
sinful  nature ;  that  pardon  is  consistent  with  law  upon  condition  of  repentance 
merely  ;  that  God  renews  the  heart  without  the  instrumentality  of  the  truth  ; 
that  there  is  no  encouragement  for  sinners  to  use  the  means  of  grace ;  and 
that  men  fail  of  salvation  by  a  fatal  necessity,  and  not  by  their  own  fault  ? 
These  points  are  Calvinism,  or  the  reviewer's  arguments  to  prove  me  and  the 
fathers  anti-calvinistic  are  nothing  to  the  purpose.  But  does  he  believe  that 
Calvinists  hold  to  such  doctrines  ?  I  hope  the  reviewer  will  not  regard  me  as 
treating  him  with  indecorum,  if  I  say,  that  "  he  knows"  that  the  doctrines 
last  named  are  not  Calvinism,  "  or  bis  ignorance  upon  the  subject  is  such,  as 
to  make  it  a  sin  for  him  to  write  upon  it  in  so  confident  a  manner." 

We  know  that  Calvinism  is  often  represented  as  teaching  that  infants  deserve 


328 

damnation,  and  that  hell  is  paved  with  their  bones  ;  that  all  men  are,  by  nature 
and  necessarily,  as  depraved  and  wicked  as  they  can  be  ;  that  an  atonement 
has  been  made  only  for  the  sins  of  the  elect — a  veiy  small  part  of  mankind; 
that  the  elect  will  be  saved  though  they  should  conduct  ever  so  wickedly ; 
and  that  the  non-elect  cannot  be  saved,  though  they  should  conduct  ever  so 
religiously;  and  that  men  to  whom  pardon  is  oflered,  without  special  grace  to 
enable  them  to  repent,  are  in  the  condition  of  captives  in  a  dungeon, — in- 
sulted with  the  offer  of  liberty,  and  threatened  if  they  do  not  embrace  it, 
wlien  their  hands  are  bound,  and  their  feet  put  in  fetters.  Who  circulate 
these  fabrications,  is  no  secret.  A  minister  in  Boston  inquired  lately  of  a 
person,  what  he  thought  of  that  horrible  doctrine  of  Calvinism,  that  hell 
was  paved  with  the  bones  of  infants ;  and  a  youth  educated  under  Unitarian 
auspices,  who  heard  and  approved  an  Orthodox  account  of  original  sin  and 
man's  depravity,  expressed  his  disappointment,  and  said  that  he  had  supposed 
that  the  preacher  agreed  with  the  Professors  at  Andover,  that  infants  were 
sent  to  hell. 

It  is  needless  to  say,  that  the  views  of  Calvinism  implied  in  the  arguments 
of  the  reviewer  and  in  the  statements  just  alluded  to,  are  false.  How  long 
the  good  people  of  Massachusetts  will  be  doomed  to  be  terrified  by  their 
spiritual  guides,  .with  these  stories  about  Calvinism,  as  children  are  terrified 
by  superstitious  nurses  with  stories  of  ghosts  and  hobgoblins,  I  cannot  tell. 
It  will  not  avail  the  reviewer,  to  say  that  one  or  another  of  these  odious  posi- 
tions has  been  adopted  by  persons  who  were  Calvinists.  Calvinism  is  not 
found  in  the  eccentricities  of  men  who  bear  that  name  ;  for  then,  there  would 
be  as  many  Calvinisms  as  there  are  specific  ditferences  of  opinion  among  Cal- 
vinists. Calvinism  is  that  system  of  doctrine,  which  in  its  great  elementary 
principles,  is  opposed  to  what  is  called  the  Arminian  system.  The  two  sys- 
tems, as  all  systems  built  on  revelation  must  do,  include  some  truths  in  com- 
mon ;  but  there  are  certain  points  on  which  they  not  only  difier,  but  hold 
opposite  doctrines.  It  is  those  doctrines  in  which  Calvinists  and  Arminians 
ditier,  which  constitute  the  two  opposing  systems  ;  and  it  is  those  doctrines 
in  their  elementary  positions  as  held  by  all  Calvinists  which  constitute  Calvin- 
ism, and  not  those  circumstantial  varieties  in  which  they  ditfer.  Is  Dr. 
Priestley's  doctrine  Unitarianism  ;  and  may  we  charge  the  Unitarians  of  Boston 
publicly,  with  holding  all  that  Priestley  taught  .■'  Are  the  doctrines  of  Mr.  Bel- 
sham  Unitarianism  ;  and  may  we  innocently  tell  our  people,  in  our  publica- 
tions and  from  the  pulpit,  that  the  Unitarians  of  Massachusetts  hold  to  all  the 
doctrines  which  are  found  in  the  writings  of  Belsham  ?  Why  then  is  the  im- 
pression made  upon  honest  and  fair-minded  Unitarian  people,  that  Calvinism 
is,  in  many  abominable  particulars,  what  Unitarians  of  information  know  that 
it  is  not,  as  held  and  taught  by  the  great  body  of  Calvinists  throughout  New 
England,  and  throughout  our  country  ?  Are  the  teachers  of  Unitarian  doctrine 
afraid  to  have  Calvinism,  as  it  is  believed  and  taught  in  the  Orthodox  congre- 
gations, come  before  their  people  attended  by  its  appropriate  evidence .'  Do 
they  fear  that  their  people  would  say  to  their  ministers, — if  this  is  Calvinism, 
you  have  misrepresented  Calvinists,  and  abused  us  .'  Do  they  fear  that  the 
arguments  which  support  Calvinism,  divested  of  misrepresentation,  would  be 
too  mighty  to  be  encountered  .'  Do  they  place  their  hopes  of  maintaining  their 
ascendancy,  where  it  exists,  in  keeping  their  people  ignorant  of  Calvinism  as 
it  is  believed  by  the  Orthodox .'  Do  they  rely  more  on  misrepresentation,  and 
the  popular  odium  which  they  excite  against  our  doctrine,  than  on  fair  state- 
ments and  sound  arguments  ? 

It  will  not  avail  the  reviewer  to  say,  that  his  views  of  Calvinism  are  fairly 
implied  in  the  principles  of  the  system.  For  Calvinism  is  what  Calvinists  be- 
lieve, anil  not  what  they  disbelieve.  It  is  what  they  mean  by  what  they  say, 
and  not  what  they  expressly  reject  and  disavow.  To  represent  opinions, 
therefore,  as  being  Calvinism,  which  Calvinists  as  a  body  disavow,  is  a  gross 
misrepresentation. 

But  let  us  attend  a  little  more  minutely  to  the  reviewer's  evidence  of  the 
anti-calvinism  of  my  creed.     The  first  is  found  in  my  asserting  the  ability  and 


329 

free  agency  of  man,  such  ns  qualifies  him  for  government  by  law,  and  renders 
him  a  fit  subject  of  reward  or  punishment.  Did  any  Calvinist  ever  deny  such 
ability  and  free  agencj'  in  man,  as  lays  a  proper  foundation  for  moral  govern- 
ment? Was  there  ever  a  Calvinist  tliat  did  not  hold  to  the  entire  depravity 
of  man,  to  the  justice  of  God  in  his  condenwiation,  and  to  his  boundless  grace 
in  providing  a  Saviour,  and  renovating  the  heart  by  his  Holy  Spirit ;  and  do 
Calviiiists  hold  to  all  this,  and  yet  dare  deny  such  ability  and  free  agency  to 
man,  as  lays  a  proper  foundation  for  government  by  law,  and  for  rewards  and 
punishments  ? 

The  doctrine  of  man's  free  agency  is  contained  in  the  fact  that  man  is  a  free 
agent, — a  proper  subject  of  moral  government,  and  of  reward  and  punishment 
according  to  his  deeds,  in  such  a  sense  as  creates  obligation  to  obey  the  Gos- 
pel, and  renders  the  condemnation  and  punishment  of  unbelief  just.  But  the 
philosophj'  of  mind — the  metapbysical  account  of  the  grounds  of  free  agency, 
is  not  Calmnisni ;  for  on  this  subject  Calvinists  differ  ; — some  placing  his  free 
agency  in  his  created  powers  which  the  fall  has  not  obliterated  ;  others  in  the 
adventitious  aids  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  some  perhaps,  giving  no  philosophi- 
cal account  at  all  of  the  matter.  But  none  of  these  theories  in  respect  to  the 
ground  of  man's  free  agency,  are  Calvinism ;  and  those  of  course  are  not  anti- 
calvinists,  that  is,  they  do  not  oppose  the  fundamental  principles  of  Calvinism 
on  the  subject  of  free  agency,  who  believe  that  man  is  endued  by  his  Crea- 
tor tcith  such  poivers,  as  qualify  him  to  render  that  obedience  to  the  Gospel 
which  he  voluntarily  and,  wickedly  withholds.  Are  not  the  great  body  of 
the  clergj-  in  New  England  Calvinists  ?  Have  they  not  been  so  reputed  and 
so  called  by  Unitarians  ;  and  does  not  the  reviewer  know,  that  while  they 
hold  with  the  reformers  and  puritans,  that  man  is  a  free  agent,  they  hold  also 
that  his  free  agency  is  constituted  by  the  possession  of  powers  and  faculties 
which  furnish  ability,  and  create  obligation  to  obey  the  Gospel  ?  The  article 
on  the  subject  of  free  agency  is  not  anti-calvinistic  :  it  is  the  \aew  of  the 
subject  which  has  prevailed  extensively  in  New  England,  and  among  those 
who  have  been  considered  the  most  high-toned  Calvinists,  long  before  the  re- 
viewer or  the  writer  of  the  sermon  was  born. 

"  On  the  suliject  of  original  sin  and  native  depravity, our  autlior,"  (the  re- 
viewer says,)  "  is  hardly  less  sound  in  his  Orthodoxy.  He  does  indeed  say 
that  the  '  supreme  love'  to  God  and  the  '  impartial  love'  to  man  which  the 
law  requires,  have  ceased  entirely  from  the  earth  " — from  the  whole  race  of 
man.  "  By  this,  however,  he  cannot  mean,  that  all  rea/  '  obedience  of  the 
heart,'  '  of  eveiy  kind  and  degree,  has  ceased  entirely  from  the  whole  race 
of  man,'  because  he  must  believe  that  some  degree  at  least  of  this  obedience 
is  still  to  be  found  in  real  christians.  All  therefore  that  he  can  intend,  and 
all  that  his  language  necessarilj-  signifies  is,  that  in  our  fallen  state,  our  love 
to  God  has  ceased  to  be  absolutely  supreme,  and  our  love  to  man  strictly  im- 
partial ;  that  is,  that  our  ol)edience  is  imperfect ; — not,  we  should  think,  a 
very  bold  position,  nor  one  likely  to  be  contested  by  any  man  in  his  right 
mind." 

I  have  always  understood  the  Bible  to  say,  that  where  there  is  not  supreme 
love  to  God  in  the  heart,  there  is  none  at  all ;  and  that  the  love  to  man  which 
is  not  in  its  nature  benevolent  and  impartial,  is  sinister  and  selfish.  If  I  am 
correct,  then,  in  my  understanding  of  the  Bible,  the  declaration  that  the  su- 
preme love  to  God  and  the  impartial  love  to  man  which  the  law  requires,  have 
ceased  entirely  from  the  whole  race  of  man,  would  seem  to  imi)ly  something 
more  than  that  "  our  obedience  is  imperfect,"  especially,  if  the  clause  be  ad- 
ded which  the  reviewer  has  omitted,  '  that  the  obedience  of  the  heart  which 
the  law  requires,  has  ceased  entirely  from  the  whole  race  of  man.'  But  I 
"  cannot  mean  that  all  real  obedience  of  the  heart  of  every  kind  and  degree 
has  ceased  from  the  whole  race  of  man."  Be  it  so  :  but  have  I  not  said  it.' 
for  the  question  is  not  whether  I  believe  what  I  have  said, — but  what  I  have 
said.  Does  not  my  language  then  teach,  that  all  obedience  which  the  law  of 
God  requires,  has  ceased  entirely  from  the  whole  race  of  man  ; — and  why 
may  1  not  be  supposed  to  mean  as  I  have  said .'     Because  I  must  believe  that 


330 

«  real  Christians'  have  in  their  hearts  some  degi'ee  of  obedience  to  the  law  of 
God  ;  that  is,  I  cannot  believe  that  all  men  refuse  to  obey  the  law  as  soon  as 
they  begin  to  act  accountably,  because  I  believe  that  some  men  are  after- 
wards made  willing  to  obey  it,  in  some  degree,  by  the  special  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  reviewer  mights  as  well  insist  that  I  cannot  believe  that  all 
men  are  born  infants,  because  they  become  men  afterwards ;  or  that  infamts 
are  born  without  innate  ideas,  because  I  must  admit  that  they  have  ideas 
sometime  after  they  are  born. 

The  statement  which  I  have  given  of  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  might, 
the  reviewer  says,  be  adopted  by  all  Unitarians  of  whom  we  have  any  know- 
ledge. But  does  not  the  reviewer  know  that  the  turning  point  of  the  contro- 
versy between  Calvinists  and  Unitarians,  is  the  nccessiti/  of  an  atonement, 
arising  from  the  nature  of  moral  government,  which  renders  it  impossible,  as 
free  agents  are  constituted,  to  forgive  sin  upon  condition  of  repentance  mere- 
ly, and  j'ct  maintain  the  influence  of  law  ?  Does  he  not  perceive  that  this 
point  is  pronunently  stated  in  the  sermon  ;  and  does  he  not  know  that  this 
principle  is  unequivocallj',  and  almost  universally,  denied  by  Unitarians  at  the 
present  day  ? — Is  he  not  acquainted  with  the  recent  productions  of  Dr.  Ware  ? 
But  Dr.  Ware  says  expressly,  that  "  the  sufferings  of  Christ  were  the  means 
of  delivering  us  from  punishment,  only  as  they  are  instrumental  in  deUvering 
us  from  the  dominion  of  sin  ;  only  as  they  are  the  means  of  bringing  us  to  re- 
pentance ;  only  as  they  operate  in  bringing  us  to  that  state  of  holiness  which 
has  the  promise  of  forgiveness,  and  qualifies  for  it."*  Is  he  not  acquainted 
with  the  opinions  of  Dr.  Bancroft  ?  But  Dr.  Bancroft  says,  that  the  doctrine 
of  the  atonement  represents  God  as  an  inexorable  being,  and  introduces  a 
principle  in  his  administration,  which  would  disgrace  any  government  on 
earth. t  Is  he  unacquainted  with  the  posthumous  sermons  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Buckndnster?  But  he  says,  "  there  is  nothing  in  scripture  which  represents 
that  Christ  has  made  it  just  for  God  to  forgive  sins  now,  upon  condition  of  re- 
pentance, when  it  would  not  have  been  before."!  Has  he  no  acquaintance 
with  the  Christian  Disciple,  and  its  patrons  .'  But  in  that  work  we  are  taught, 
that  God's  justice  presents  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  his  freely  pardoning  all 
such  as  repent  and  reform,  without  his  requiring  any  satisfaction  for  the  sins 
they  may  have  previously  connnftted.§  Is  he  unacquainted  with  the  Unita 
rian  Misceilanj%  and  its  Editor?  But  it  is  asserted»in  that  work,  that  God  may 
pardon  the  sins  of  his  creatures  upon  any  terms  which  he  may  think  proper, 
without  exacting  satisfaction  to  his  justice.  All  these  passages  deny  the  ex- 
istence of  any  such  legal  ilifficulty  in  the  way  of  pardon,  as  is  expressed  in  my 
statement  of  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement;  and  claim  that  Jesus  Christ  has 
done  nothing  to  render  pardon,  upon  condition  of  repentance,  consistent  with 
efficacious  legislation ;  and  assert  that  the  entire  influence  of  all  which  he  has 
done,  is  confined  to  instruction,  and  example,  and  motive,  as  these  may 
operate  naturally  upon  the  mind  of  man.  Now  if  the  reviewer  was  unac- 
quainted with  the  sentiments  of  the  above  named  writers,  on  the  subject  of 
the  atonement,  why  did  he  hazard  the  assertion  that  they  might  very  well 
adopt  what  I  have  said  on  this  subject  ?  But  if  he  was  acquainted  with  the 
above  quoted  opinions,  how  can  he  justify  himself  in  saying,  that  men  might 
very  well  adopt  sentiments  which  he  knew  them  most  expressly  to  disavow  ? 
It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  meet  with  Unitarian  writers  who  are  imacquainted 
with  Calvinism  ;  but  never  before  has  it  been  my  lot  to  meet  with  a  Unitarian 
writer  who  was  alike  ignorant  on  both  sides  of  tiyi  question,  and  who  misre- 
presented both  Unitarians  and  Calvinists. 

There  is  one  subject  more  to  which  my  attention  is  called  by  the  reviewer 
with  a  note  of  earnestness,  which  must  not  be  disregarded.  It  is  my  repre- 
senting the  Liberal  system  as  opposite  to  the  Evangelical.  '  Let  him  refer,' 
he  says,  '  to  the  passages  in  which  Professor  Ware  or  Dr.  Channing  has  as- 
.serted  or  im])lied  that  men  are  not  free  agents  ;  or  that  an  atonement  has 
NOT  been  made  for  .sin  by  Jesus  Christ  ;'||  or  that  a  compliance  with  the  con- 

*  Letter  to  Trin.  p.  93.    t  Scr.  p.  224.      t  Ser.  p.  2iO.      ^  Ch.  Dis.  1823,  p.  191 . 
jt  See  die  extracts  just  before  quoted. 


331 

ditions  of  <hc  Gospel  is  not  '  practicable  in  tlie  reo;u!ar  exercise  of  tlie  powers 
and  faculties  given  to  man  as  an  accountable  creature ;'  or  that  God  does  not 
exercise '  a  providential  fjovernment  which  extends  to  all  events.'  '  Let  him  do 
this,  or  retract  his  charge  as  publicly  as  it  has  been  made,  or  consent  to  lie 
under  the  imputation  of  a  shameless  calumny.' 

I  am  happy  to  be  called  to  an  account  by  the  reviewer,  if  I  have  misrepre- 
sented Unitarians  ;  and  also  to  agree  with  him,  that,  if  1  have  done  it,  and  do 
not  retract  the  misrepresentation  as  publicly  as  I  have  made  it,  I  do  lie  justly, 
imder  the  im])utation  of  a  shameless  calumny.  15ut  in  speaking  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Evangelical  and  Liberal  systems  as  opposite,  I  had  reference  to 
those  which  constitute  and  characterize  the  two  systems  as  opposite,  and  not 
to  those  truths  which  must  of  course  he  held  in  common  in  all  creeds  tbunded 
upon  revelation.  Have  not  the  Calvinislic  and  Armiuian  systems  always 
been  called  opposite  systems,  and  yet,  did  any  man  ever  intend  by  this,  that 
they  held  no  truths  in  common  .'  And  when  I  say,  *  the  question  is  not  how 
much  of  this  system  may  be  misunderstood  consistently  with  sanctification 
by  that  which  is  still  embraced  ;  but  can  it  be  rejected  entirely  by  those  who 
possess  the  Bible,  and  those  who  do  it  be  sanctified  without  it ; — my  object 
is,  to  waive  the  question  concerning  those  who  embrace,  some  more,  and 
some  less,  of  the  evangelical  system  ;  and  to  press  the  inquiry,  whether  all 
the  articles  which  constitute  the  Evangelical  and  the  Liberal  systems  onijo- 
site  systems,  can  be  rejected,  and  those  who  do  this,  be  saved  by  the  truths 
which  they  hold  in  conunon  with  Calvinjsts  ? 

And  now.  Sir,  I  cannot  perceive  any  horns  for  me  to  hang  upon,  in  the 
dilemma  which  the  reviewer  has  presented.  There  is  no  misrepresentation. 
The  Calvinistic  and  Unitarian  systems  are  opposite  systems,  though  they 
agree  in  some  points.  Of  course,  there  is  no  occasion  for  a  pubUc  retiaction, 
and  no  ground  for  the  imputation  of  '  shameless  caliunny.' 


NO.  IL 

Tu  the  Editor  of  the  Christian  Examiner. 
Sir, — In  a  preceding  letter,  I  have  stated  several  things  in  the  review 
of  my  sermon,  which  I  consider  as  a  departure  from  the  equitable  rules  of 
argumentation.  It  has  appeared  to  me,  that  no  correct  general  view  is  given 
of  the  entire  argument ;  and  that,  generally,  no  logical  statement  is  given  of 
the  particular  arguments  and  facts  relied  on  ;  and  that  the  arguments  alluded 
to,  are  evaded  and  misrepresented  by  a  reply  that  assumes  a  position  which 
the  argument  does  not  include  ;  and  that  the  review  is  calculated  to  have  the 
effect  of  appearing  to  answer  an  argument  which  it  does  not  touch,  and  at 
the  same  time  of  creating  such  a  prejudice  against  the  sermon,  as  will  pre- 
vent its  being  read.  Whether  these  complaints  are  well  founded,  or  only  the 
result  of  my  own  unreasonable  partiality,  it  will  be  my  object  in  this  letter  to 
enable  you  and  the  public  to  judge. 

Tlie  arguments  omitted  entirely  are  the  second  and  the  fifth :  they  ai-e 
short  and  obvious  to  popular  apprehension,  and  profess  to  rest  on  the  testimo- 
ny of  the  Bible  ;  and,  if  fallacious,  might  have  been  easily  answered.  The 
first,  stated  concisely,  stands  thus  :  According  to  the  Bible,  the  righteous 
love  the  truth,  and  the  wicked  hate  it ; — according  to  the  Bible,  the  irreligious, 
and  profane,  and  immoral,  and  ambitious,  and  voluptuous  are  the  wicked, — and 
it  is  notorious  that  this  class  of  persons  do,  as  a  general  fact,  prefer  the  Liberal 
system  ;  and  are  vehement  in  their  opposition  to  the  Evangelical  system.  We 
hope  the  reviewer  will  take  notice  of  this  argument  the  next  time. 

The  other  argument  omitted  respects  the  identity  of  the  faith  of  the  .primi- 
tive martj'rs,  and  of  those  who  sulfered  under  the  papacy.  The  first  are  de- 
clared to  have  been  slain  for  the  w^ord  of  God,  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 
But  with  reference  to  those  who  suffered  afterwards  under  papal  persecutions, 
it  is  said  also,  here  is  the  patience  of  the  saints.  Here  are  they  that  keep  the 
commandments  of  God,  and  the  faith  of  Jesus.    The  faith  of  the  martyrs  then. 


332 

under  pagan  and  papal  Rome,  was  the  same.  But  the  faith  of  the  martyrs 
under  the  papacy,  was  evangelical : — it  embodied  the  doctrines  of  the  refor- 
mation. Of  course,  these  are  the  same  with  the  faith  of  the  primitive  martyrs  ; 
and  their  faith  is  the  word  of  God,  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus.  It  is  my  re- 
quest also,  that  this  argument  may  receive  the  attention  which  it  may  seem 
to  require. 

Under  the  general  argument  concerning  the  identity  of  the  effects  produced 
by  the  Gospel,  and  by  the  evangelical  system,  one  particular  argument,  of  no 
small  consequence,  is  also  passed  over  in  silence.  It  is  the  fact,  that  both  the 
Gospel  and  the  evangelical  system  are  virulently  opposed  by  such  persons, 
and  in  such  circumstances,  as  show  that  the  opposition  does  not  proceed  from 
the  love  of  truth  and  aversion  to  error.  For  the  facts,  I  must  refer  to  the 
paragraph  in  the  sermon,  p.  230.  The  reviewer  is  requested  to  take  this  argu- 
ment also,  into  serious  consideration. 

The  evasions  and  misrepresentations  of  my  argument  are  as  follows: 
Evasion  1.  This  has  respect  to  my  argument  derived  from  the  direct  and 
obvious  import  of  the  Bible.  In  logical  form  it  stands  thus  :  The  Bible  was 
given  for  the  use  of  the  common  people, — the  great  body  of  the  human  fomily. 
To  be  understood  l?y  the  common  people,  the  true  import  must  be  that  which 
corresponds  with  the  direct  and  obvious  import  of  the  terms,  as  they  are  under- 
stood in  popular  use.  But  the  doctrines  of  the  evangelical  system  are  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  most  direct  and  obvious  meaning  of  the  sacred  text ; 
therefore  they  are  the  doctrines  of  (he  Bible, — the  real  faith  which  was  deliv- 
ered to  the  saints.  This  argument  the  reviewer  evades  and  misrepresents, 
by  answering  it,  as  if  my  position  had  been  that  the  doctrines  of  the  evangeli- 
cal system  are  in  accordance  with  the  literal  import  of  the  sacred  text, — 
substituting  literal  for  obvious,  as  if  they  were  synonymous  terms.  But  I 
have  not  said  that  the  doctrines  of  the  evangelical  system  are  in  accordance 
with  the  literal  import  of  the  sacred  text ;  and  I  cannot  but  believe  that  the 
reviewer  knows  that  obvious  import  and  literal  import  are  not  synonymous 
terms.  Why  then  does  he  wander  away  from  the  argument  into  a  disserta- 
tion upon  figurative  language,  to  disprove  what  I  have  not  asserted  .'  Will  the 
reviewer  undertake  to  sliow,  that  the  import  of  figurative  language  is  not,  as 
a  general  iiict,  obvious  to  popular  apprehension  ?  Why  then  is  it  used  by 
insi)ired  writers,  and  why  used  at  all  by  any  writers,  whose  object  it  is  to  be 
understood  ?  Is  it  the  object  of  a  revelation  to  conceal  the  truth,  or  to  make 
it  manifest  ?  Is  there  no  meaning  in  the  poetry  of  the  Bible  obvious  to  popu- 
lar apprehension?  Are  Homer,  Virgil  and  Milton  unintelligible,  because, 
under  the  influence  of  a  powerful  imagination,  they  speak  in  figures  }  Do  not 
the  eastern  nations  understand  their  highly  figurative  writers  ?  Or  the  abori- 
ginals of  our  land,  their  eloquent  orators .''  Figurative  language,  instead  of 
being  unintelligible,  is  peculiarly  the  language  of  the  common  people,  and  of 
the  early  stages  of  society.  Figures  are  the  hieroglyphics  of  nature,  known 
and  read  of  all  men  ;  and  if  they  are  sometimes  obscure,  this  is  no  more  than 
is  true  of  literal  language ;  and  if  they  are  sometimes  borrowed  from  scenery 
or  customs  not  familiar  to  our  eyes,  these  allusions  have  been  so  often  ex- 
plained by  commentators,  which  the  common  people  read,  and  from  the  pulpit 
also,  that  the  greater  part  understand  their  import  well.  Multitudes  who  are 
not  learned  in  the  original  languages,  have  read  histoiy  and  geography,  and 
have  studied  English  grammar  and  rhetoric  ;  and  there  are  few  who  do  not 
understand  that  there  were  fig-trees,  and  vines,  and  hills,  and  valleys,  and 
shepherds,  and  flocks  in  Palestine  ;  and  that  springs  of  water  were  scarce  in 
the  deserts  of  Arabia ;  and  that  green  pastures,  and  still  waters,  and  the 
shadow  of  a  great  rock,  were  peculiarly  refreshing  in  a  weary  land :  or  who 
have  not  been  told,  and  do  not  believe,  that  Egypt  was  watered  by  the  Nile, 
instead  of  shov.'ers  of  rain.  Nor  is  it  true,  so  far  as  my  observation  extends, 
that  the  common  people  are  misled  as  to  the  doctrines  or  duties  of  the  Bible, 
by  the  obscurity  of  figurative  language.  They  do  not  suppose  that  the  Sun  is 
God,  because  it  is  said  the  Lord  God  is  a  Sun  ;  or  that  God  is  material,  and 
clothed  with  human  passions,  because  he'is  spoken  of  as  liaving  a  hand  and  a 


33S 

mouth,  and  as  the  subject  of  ans;cr,  and  gnei,  and  repentance.  If  in  some 
instances  they  do  not  understand  local  allusions,  and  cannot  give  a  learned 
dissertation  upon  metaphors,  and  hyperboles,  and  oriental  customs ;  they  do 
nevertheless,  in  most  instances,  understand  truly  the  gieneral  import  of  the 
figurative  language  of  the  Bible.  Common  sense,  and  common  honesty, 
united  with  diligence  and  prayer,  seldom  lead  the  common  people  astray  in 
respect  to  doctrine.  So  plain  is  the  Bible,  that  but  for  the  aid  of  learned 
writers,  they  would  seldom  go  astray.  The  very  rules  of  exposition  are  only 
the  operations  of  common  sense  in  the  composition  of  language,  observed  and 
noted  by  learned  men.  There  were  poets,  before  the  rules  of  poetical  com- 
position were  embodied ;  and  orators,  before  the  rules  of  elocution  were  re- 
duced to  system ;  and  expositors  of  the  Bible,  before  exposition  became  a 
science,  guided  by  general  laws. 

Again  :  His  reply,  p.  55,  represents  my  position  as  being,  that  the  obvious 
sense  of  the  proof  texts  is  evangelical,  taken  separate  from  their  connexion  ; 
and  goes  on  to  throw  back  upoi)  me  a  powerful  declamation  about  Quakers, 
and  Baptists,  and  Antinomians,  and  Catholics,  and  Universalists,  as  all  claim- 
ing and  having  the  obvious  sense  of  proof  texts  in  their  favor,  '  if  you 
take  them  separate  from  their  connexion.'  But  this  is  a  direct  misrepresenta- 
tion, both  of  my  language  and  meaning.  I  have  not  said  nor  implied,  that  the 
doctrines  of  the  evangelical  system  are  in  accordance  with  the  direct  and 
obvious  import  of  the  sacred  text,  "  taken  separate  from  its  connexion."  It 
is  easy  to  reply  to  the  argument  of  an  opponent,  if  we  may  first  alter  his 
propositions,  and  reply  to  propositions  modified  to  suit  our  own  convenience. 

Again  :  The  reviewer  says,  "  When  we  speak  of  the  obvious  sense  as 
being  probably  the  true  sense  of  any  passage,  we  mean  the  obvious  sense  as 
it  struck  the  mind  of  the  writer,  and  not  as  it  may  happen  to  strike  our 
minds."  I  had  always  supposed  that  the  obvious  meaning  of  a  writer  is  that 
which  is  actually  communicated  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  by  his  language, 
interpreted  according  to  its  import  in  common  use  ;  while  the  real  meaning 
of  a  writer  is  that  which  was  present  to  his  mind  and  in  his  intention,  when 
he  wrote.  But  how  the  real,  can  be  called  the  obvious  meaning  of  a  writer, 
when  it  is  not  communicated  by  the  terms  he  employs  as  the  signs  of  his 
ideas,  it  is  not  easy  to  understand.  And  if  erring  men,  as  doubtless  some  have 
done,  may  write  one  thing  and  mean  another,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  reconcile  it 
with  the  wisdom  or  the  goodness  of  God,  that  men  inspired  to  give  a  revela- 
tion of  Christian  duties  and  doctrines,  should  have  one  meaning  present  to 
their  minds,  and  communicate  to  their  readers  an  entirely  different  meaning. 
If  the  real,  and  the  obvious  import  of  the  Bible  be  not  the  same,  the  common 
people,  as  I  should  think,  have  no  Bible,  and  infidels  have  the  best  of  the 
argument,  who  claim  that  no  revelation  has  been  made.  But  perhaps  the 
reviewer  will  claim  that  he  ought  to  be  understood  to  mean,  that  the  real  and 
the  obvious  meanings  of  the  inspired  writers,  were  the  same  to  their  cotem- 
poraries  ;  but  that  what  is  to  us  now,  the  obvious  import  of  their  language,  is 
not  the  real  import  of  the  ap«stles,  nor  that  which  was  understood  by  those 
of  their  day.  For  he  sa5^s,  "  Such  have  been  the  changes  that  have  taken 
place  in  the  customs  and  manners  of  the  world,  in  the  modes  of  thinking  and 
speaking  that  have  prevailed,  in  the  controversies  that  have  been  carried  on 
in  the  church,  and  especially  in  the  peculiar,  and,  as  it  were,  technical  mean- 
ing of  some  of  the  leading  terms  used  in  those  controversies ;  that  even  in 
those  passages  where  the  sacred  writers  intended  to  be  understood  in  the 
obvious  import  of  the  language  used,  what  was  the  obvious  import  to  them, 
may  appear  a  forced  and  most  unnatural  construction  to  its,  from  the  neces- 
sary changes  which  language  has  undergone.  This  holds  true,  especially,  of 
those  who  are  under  the  necessity  of  reading  the  Bible  in  a  translation  ;  and, 
as  in  the  case  of  our  translation,  in  a  language  remarkably  different  from  the 
original,  in  many  of  its  characteristics.  That  the  sacred  writers  were,  for  the 
most  part,  unlettered  men,  (a  circumstance  alluded  to  by  Dr.  Beecher,)  only 
serves  to  heighten  this  difficulty,  as  they  must  have  been  so  much  the  more 
likely  to  use  language  in  its  local  and  peculiar  sense,  rather  than  in  its  gene- 
43 


334 

ral,  precise,  and  philosophical  sense.  Add  to  this,  the  effect  which  a  man's 
theological  prejudices  and  prepossessions  must  have  upon  his  mind,  in  judging 
of  the  obvious  import  of  many  passages  of  scripture.  If  he  has  been  trained 
to  associate,  inseparably,  a  peculiar  theological  sense  to  certain  words  of  fre- 
quent recurrence  in  the  sacred  writings,  (such  for  example  as  grace,  election, 
justification,  &c.)  it  will  follow  of  course,  that  many  of  the  passages  in 
which  these  words  are  found,  will  suggest  to  him  a  meaning,  and  it  will  seem 
to  him  their  obvious  meaning,  though  widely  ditferent  from  their  true  mean- 
ing, and  indeed,  from  their  obvious  meaning  to  all  unprejudiced  readers." 

1  must  here  protest  against  the  reviewer's  coming  over  to  my  side  without 
striking  his  colours,  and  with  all  the  tokens  of  continued  opposition,  leading 
the  incautious  reader  to  conclude  that  I  must  be  wrong  because  the  reviewer 
reasons  conclusively.  I  had  said,  that  if  the  obvious  import  of  revelation  is 
not  the  true  import,  the  common  people  have  no  Bible.  This  conclusion  the 
reviewer  calls  indecent  and  irreverent,  and  yet  with  all  his  might,  is  assisting 
me  to  establish  the  truth  of  the  conclusion.  For  what  other  purpose  has  he 
gathered  around  the  sacred  text  the  clouds  and  darkness  of  changes,  and 
manners,  and  modes  of  thinking,  and  controversies,  and  technical  meanings, 
and  translations,  and  prejudices;  or  to  what  other  conclusion  do  they  tend, 
but  to  prove  that  the  common  people  have  no  Bible  ?  Tindal  has  quoted  all 
these  diliiculties,  and  man)^  more,  from  Bishop  Taylor,  to  prove  that  a  true 
exposition  of  the  Bible  is  utterly  a  hopeless  thing ;  that  the  Bible  is  a  hook 
of  no  use,  and  that  men  can  safely  rely  only  on  reason  and  the  religion  of 
nature.  The  Papists  have  alleged  the  same  difficulties  to  prove  that  the  Bible 
can  be  of  no  use  to  the  common  people,  and  ought  to  be  taken  from  them  as 
a  book  which  would  lead  them  astray.  And  Socinians  have  borrowed  from 
Inlidels  and  Papists  these  hackncj'ed  objections,  which  have  been  answered, 
and  still  repealed  beyond  the  "thousandth"  time,  to  mitigate  the  criminality  of 
doctrinal  error,  and  invest  reason  with  a  sort  of  dictatorship  in  deciding  the 
import  of  the  sacred  text.  And  the  conclusion  to  which  Bishop  Taylor  him- 
self comes,  is,  that  "  these  and  a  thousand  more  difficulties,  have  made  it 
impossible  for  a  man  in  so  great  a  variety  of  matter,  not  to  be  deceived."  I 
have  stated  hypotheticaliy,  that  if  the  obvious  import  of  the  Bible,  according 
to  the  meaning  of  the  language  in  common  use,  is  not  the  true  import,  the 
common  people  have  no  Bible;  and  Tindal  and  the  Pope,  and  Bishop  Taylor 
and  the  reviewer,  all  seem  to  say,  that  the  meaning  obvious  to  the  common 
people  is  not  the  meaning  which  was  present  to  the  minds  of  the  inspired 
writers, — a  conclusion  which  the  reviewer  calls  indecent  and  irreverent,  and 
in  which  I  entirely  agree  with  him.  But  does  the  reviewer  really  intend  to 
renounce  translation  as  impossible,  and  turn  us  over  to  reason  and  the  light  of 
nature  ?  And  if  he  does  not  intend  this,  what  does  he  intend  ?  I  have  long 
been  offended  with  the  flip])ant  style  in  which  Unitarians  have  dealt  out  these 
Infidel  and  Popish  objections  against  the  Bible,  to  dim  the  atmosphere  of 
common  vision,  and  gather  doubts  about  the  sacred  book  ; — and  a  better 
ser\'ice  can  scarcely  be  lendered  to  the  causer  of  Christianity,  than  to  shed 
daylight  upon  the  fog,  and  drive  it  away.  What  then,  as  the  metaphysician 
said  of  a  poem, — what  do  all  these  difficulties  prove?  They  prove  that  the 
common  people  cannot  translate  the  Bible  from  the  original  languages  ; — but 
do  they  prove  that  learned  men  cannot  translate  the  Bible  ?  It  is  certainly  a  diffi- 
cult work,  putting  in  requisition  intellect,  learning,  judgment,  candor,  applica- 
tion, piety,  and  jirayer ;  but  is  it,  with  these  qualifications,  impossible  .'  Have 
such  changes  in  maimers  and  customs  happened  since  the  Bible  was  written, 
as  have  thrown  a  fatal  eclipse  on  the  human  mind  ?  Have  the  Greek  and 
I^atin  cla.sirs  perished,  and  are  all  their  beauties, — thoughts  which  they  never 
knew,  supplied  by  the  genius  of  modern  men?  But  if  profane  authors  may  be 
understood  by  the  learned,  why  may  not  the  Bible  be  understood  ?  Have  all 
the  effects  of  time  fallen  exclusively  upon  the  word  of  Hfe,  while  the  follies  and 
impurities  of  heathen  mythology  have  come  down  to  us  correctly  translated  ? 
Tlie  Bible  can  be  understood  by  men  acquainted  with  the  language  in  which 
it  was  written.     No  clianges  have  happened  which  have  sealed  up  that  holy 


335 

book,  or  thrown  darkness  and  doubt  upon  its  illuminated  pages.  What  then, 
do  these  difficulties  prove  ?  Do  they  prove  that,  when  learned  men  have  as- 
certained the  meaning  of  the  Bible,  tlu'y  cannot  clothe  it  in  language  obvious 
to  popular  apprehension  ?  If  they  cannot,  the  connnon  people  have  no  Bible  ; 
and  if  they  can,  all  i\iis  talk  about  changes  of  customs  and  manners,  &c.  is 
like  the  smoke  which  vanquished  warriors  create  to  conceal  their  retreat. 
Why  cannot  the  meaning  of  the  Bible  be  made  intelligible  to  the  common 
people,  in  other  languages  ?  It  may  be  made  intelligible.  It  h;is  been,  and 
there  is  one  fact  that  proves  it.  It  is  the  fact  that  all  men  understand  or  mis- 
understand the  proof  texts  concerning  doctrine  alike.  There  is  none,  ;imong 
all  the  translations,  exclusively  Calvinistic,  or  Arminian,  or  Unitarian.  In  all 
versions,  as  the  reviewer  says,  all  have  their  respective  proof-texts :  and  all  the 
texts  relied  on  by  each,  are  the  same  in  all  versions.  A  Calvinistic  proof-text 
in  one  version,  is  a  Calvinistic  proof-text  in  every  other  version  ;  which  shows 
that  whoever  may  be  wrong,  the  Bible  is  correctly  translated.  What  then  do 
these  difficulties,  so  much  vaunted  by  Unitarians,  prove  ?  They  prove  tliat  no 
translation  is  absolutely  perfect  in  every  possible  respect.  But  what  if  it  be 
so — that  no  translation  is  exact?  Does  it  follow  that  evert/  translation  is  not 
so  far  exact,  as  to  comnuinicate,  in  a  m;mner  obvious  to  popular  apprehension, 
the  entire  mind  of  the  Spirit  on  the  subject  of  doctrine  ?  A  writer  may  spell 
badly,  and  write  ungrammatically,  and  yet  be  understood.  There  may  be 
thirty  thousand  various  readings,  and  not  one  of  them  obscure  the  flood  of 
light  which  is  poured  on  every  doctrine  of  the  Bible.  It  may  not  be  difficult 
perhaps,  to  show,  that,  on  some  passages,  clouds  and  darkness  rest  to  this 
day.  But  does  the  eclipse  of  one  star  hide  the  light  of  all  the  rest,  and  blot 
out  the  sun  ?  What  if  some  points  of  chronology  are  matters  of  doubtful  dis- 
putation— do  these  obscure  the  law  of  God,  or  the  revealed  account  of  human 
depravity,  or  the  doctrine  of  regeneration,  or  the  nature  and  necessity  of  re- 
pentance and  faith  ?  Some  of  the  prophecies  arc  obscure,  as  they  were  de- 
signed to  be,  until  the  hand  of  time  should  lift  the  veil.  But  wbat  has  pro- 
phetical obscurity  to  do  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  whose  object  it  is  to 
instruct,  and  which  are  of  no  use,  except  as  they  are  made  intelligible  ?  And 
if  the  changes  through  which  the  Bible  has  passed,  have  thrown  obscurity 
and  doubt  on  some  passages  which  relate  to  doctrine,  are  all  the  proof-texts, 
on  all  the  doctrines,  to  be  rejected  as  incompetent  witnesses,  and  thrown  into 
a  dungeon  ?  If  some  of  tlie  figures  which  are  employed  to  teach  doctrine, 
are  not  intelligible  from  local  allusions,  is  the  light  of  all  figures,  therefore,  put 
under  a  bushel  ?  And  what  if  the  light  of  every  metai)hor  in  the  Bible  were 
put  out — is  the  Bible  all  metaphor?  Are  not  the  doctrines  still  revealed  so 
plainly  in  literal  language,  as  to  render  the  belief  of  them  a  duty,  and  the  dis- 
belief of  them  a  sin  ?  And  as  to  prejudice,  I  hope  the  reviewer  will  not 
advocate  the  maxim,  that  a  man  may  avail  himself  of  his  own  crime,  or  that 
the  Bible  is  not  obvious  to  honest  minds,  because  it  presents  a  darkened  page 
to  those  that  hate  the  light,  neither  come  to  the  light,  lest  their  deeds  should 
be  reproved.  It  was  for  the  blindness  of  prejudice,  that  the  Jews  were 
bhnded  more ;  and  for  that  darkness  of  the  understanding  which  was  caused 
by  the  heart,  that  thej'^  were  hardened  more,  and  given  over  to  believe  a  lie. 
And  as  to  controversies  and  different  opinions,  it  remains  to  be  proved  that 
these  have  resulted  from  any  obscurity  of  the  Bible  concerning  doctrine,  and 
have  not  resulted  rather  from  pride,  and  passion,  and  seliishncss,  and  igno- 
rance, and  enmity  against  God.  The  Bible  may  be  a  plain  book  to  any  man 
who  will  do  the  will  of  God ;  while  to  the  wicked,  who  will  do  wickedly,  it 
may  remain  a  scaled  book.  I  am  aware  that  just  opinions  are  made  neither 
better  nor  more  true  by  authority,  and  yet  the  concurrence  of  human  opinion 
upon  a  given  subject,  increases  the  presumptive  evidence  of  its  truth.  In 
this  view  I  quote  with  satisfaction  the  testimony  of  Locke.  Speaking  of  the 
Bible,  he  calls  it  a  collection  of  writings  designed  by  God  for  the  instruction 
of  the  illiterate  bulk  of  mankind  in  the  way  of  salvation ;  and  therefore  gene- 
rally, and  in  necessary  points,  to  be  understood  in  the  plain,  direct  meaning 
of  the  words  and  phrases,  such  as  they  may  be  supposed  to  have  had  in  the 


336 

mouths  of  (he  speakers  who  used  them.  The  Christian  Examiner,  for  May 
and  June  182-1,  in  an  article  entitled  "  Notes  on  the  Bible,"  says,  "  Had  the 
copies  of  the  New  Testament  which  have  come  down  to  us,  in  their  transmis- 
sion through  successive  centuries,  and  versions  from  one  language  to  another, 
suffered  changes  of  such  a  nature  as  to  render  it  unt'itrtain  what  were  the 
facts  and  events  originally  narrated,  what  were  the  principles  of  the  christian 
institution,  what  were  the  real  character  and  actions  of  its  founder,  and  what 
the  doctiine  he  promulgated,  then  indeed  must  we  resign  our  confidence  in 
the  sacred  text ;  for  then  it  would  he  impossible  to  learn  from  it,  with  any 
degree  of  certainty,  what  Christianity  originally  was."*  Now  if  all  this,  too, 
i,3  indecent  and  irreverent,  and  of  course  untrue ;  and  if  such  changes  have 
attended  the  transmission  of  the  Bible  to  us,  as  that  what  seems  to  the  com- 
mon people  the  direct  and  obvious  import  of  the  text,  is  not  the  real  import 
which  was  present  to  the  minds  of  the  inspired  writers  ;  then  I  heg  leave  to 
ask  the  reviewer,  what  the  common  people  are  to  do  ?  They  cannot  read  the 
Bible  in  the  original  languages,  and  they  cannot  find  its  import  in  the  transla- 
tion, according  to  the  import  of  language  in  common  use,  the  only  language 
which  they  can  understand.  How  then  are  they  to  come  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth  ?  Shall  they  abandon  the  maxim,  that  the  Bible  is  the  religion 
of  Protestants,  and  believe  as  his  holiness  and  the  church  believe?  This 
would  be  to  turn  back  the  hour  hand  of  time  to  the  dark  ages  ;  and  pour  con- 
tempt upon  the  discoveries  in  mental  philosophy  and  biblical  learning,  which 
have  blessed  these  latter  days.  Shall  they  study,  then,  evangelical  commen- 
tators.'  These,  alas,  through  ignorance  and  prejudice,  do  but  "lead  to  bewil- 
der, and  dazzle  to  blind  ;"  and  the  Quakers,  and  the  Baptists,  and  the  Anti- 
nomians,  are  all  in  the  same  condemnation,  relying  on  proof-texts,  which,  ta- 
ken from  their  connexion,  seem  to  favor  their  views.  V.'hat  then  shall  the 
common  people  do  ?  They  must  read  Unitarian  commentators ; — for  after  all 
these  appalling  dilliculties  from  changes  of  customs,  and  theological  prepos- 
sessions, and  technical  phrases,  there  is  a  meaning  on  the  sacred  pages  which 
is  direct  and  obvious,  not  only  to  the  inspired  writers,  but  to  the  minds  of 
unprejudiced  readers  even  now,— a  meaning  which  Unitarians,  being  happily 
without  prejudice,  do  see,  while  the  rest  of  the  world  sit  in  darkness.  All 
those  passages  which  teacli  the  humanity  of  Christ,  have,  somehow,  come 
down  to  us  unobscured,  through  all  the  perils  of  time  ;  and  "  in  a  language 
remarkably  different  from  the  original."  Indeed,  having  cleared  the  breakers 
of  Orthodoxy  and  gotten  into  still  water,  the  reviewer  himself  seems  to  regard 
the  Bible  as  a  very  plain  book,  whose  real  import  is  obtained  by  a  strict  ad- 
herence to  the  direct  and  obvious  meaning  of  the  terms,  as  they  would  and 
must  be  understood  by  plain  unlettered  men.  If  he  were  called  upon  to  give 
a  comparative  view  of  Unitarianism  and  Calvinism,  there  are  no  points  on 
which  he  would  insist  more,  in  showing  the  decided  superiority  of  the  former, 
than  on  its  strict  adherence  to  the  plain  meaning  of  the  plain  parts  of  the 
Scriptures  ;  and  on  the  ease  with  which  the  whole  system  can  be  understood 
and  comprehended  by  men  of  all  capacities.  There  are,  he  thinks,  but  a  few 
passages  which  occasion  any  diiiiculty  ;  and  these,  by  the  light  of  plainer 
passages,  by  the  tenor  of  the  Gospel,  the  leading  ol)jects  of  the  dispensation, 
and  the  researches  of  scholars,  are  "in  most  cases"  explained  "in  a  manner 
perfectly  satisfactory."  Nay,  so  entirely  have  all  the  clouds  been  dissipated, 
which  lowered  just  now  upon  the  inspired  page,  and  with  such  etlulgence  has 
the  sun  broke  oiU  upon  it,  that  the  whole  anti-calvinistic  or  Unitarian  system, 
can  be  understood  and  comprehended  by  men  of  all  capacities.  Indeed  the 
texts,  which  contradict  all  the  leading  doctrines  of  Calvinism,  are  so  plain, 
that  the  whole  constitution  and  complexion  of  the  Bible,  can  convey  no 
OTHER  meaning  to  plain  unlettered  men,  than  is  irreconcilably  opposed  to 
the  fundamental  principles  of  Calvinism.  Really,  one  might  as  well  reason 
with  a  pendulum  as  with  such  a  writer,  never  iu  one  place,  but  first  in  one 

*  I  have  heard  it  suggested  that  this  article  was  written  by  die  reviewer  himself; — 
but  of  the  fact  1  liave  no  evidence. 


337 

extreme  and  then  in  the  other.  I  hope  however  he  will  stick  to  his  last 
opinion,  viz.  that  the  direct  and  obvious  meaning  of  the  Bible,  as  it  is  under- 
stood by  plain  unlettered  men,  is  the  true  meaning ;  and  then  he  will  only 
have  to  account  tor  the  facts  by  which  I  have  endeavored  to  prove,  that  the 
doctrines  of  the  evangelical  system  are  in  accordance  with  the  direct  and 
obvious  import  of  the  sacred  text  as  it  is  understood  by  plain  unlettered  men, 
and  for  his  own  admissions,  that  the  predominant  import  which  in  all  ages  actu- 
ally has  been  received  from  the  sacred  text,  is  not  the  Unitarian  but  the  Evan- 
gelical import. 

The  facts  which  I  wish  him  to  explain,  are,  the  confession  of  learned  infi- 
dels, that  the  evangelical  iythe  true  doctrinal  import  of  the  Bible,  corrobo- 
rated by  the  confession  of  learned  Unitarians  after  they  have  stripped  of  in- 
spired infallibility  the  opinions  and  reasonings  of  prophets  and  apostles.  I 
desire  him  also  to  account  for  the  fact,  that  the  Papists,  who  in  doctrine  have 
been,  as  a  body,  anti-calvinistic,  should  have  been  so  bitter  in  their  opposition 
to  the  circulation  of  the  Bible,  as  teaching  only  to  mislead  the  common  peo- 
ple, if  the  whole  constitution  and  complexion  of  the  moral  parts  of  the  Bible 
can  convey  no  other  meaning  to  a  plain  unlettered  man,  than  one  irreconcila- 
bly opposed  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  Calvinism  ;  and  how  the  reform- 
ers should  have  regarded  the  translation  and  spread  of  "  this  decidedly  anti- 
calvinistic  volume,"  as  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  in  putting  to  flight  the  armies 
of  the  aliens.  But  especially  would  I  request  the  assistance  of  the  reviewer, 
to  enable  me  to  comprehend  how  a  book,  so  decidedly  Unitarian,  that  the 
whole  system  can  with  ease  be  understood  by  men  of  all  capacities,  and  no 
other  meaning  can  be  understood  by  a  plain  unlettered  man,  than  one  irrecon- 
cilably opposed  to  Calvinism — how  such  a  book  should  have  actually  been 
understood  to  teach  the  evangelical  system  of  doctrine  by  a  vast  majority  of 
mankind  who  have  read  the  Bible ;  and  should  not  have  been  understood  to 
teach  the  Unitarian  system  by  persons  enough  at  any  time  or  in  any  nation, 
to  lay  a  foundation  for  comparing  the  practical  tendency  of  the  two  systems  : 
for  he  says,  "  unfortunately,  Unitarianisra  has  never  yet  prevailed  in  any 
country,  and  therefore  this  comparison  cannot  be  made." 


NO.  III. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Christian  Examiner. 

Sir, — In  confirmation  of  the  charge,  that  the  argument  contained  in  my 
discourse  has  been  evaded  and  misrepresented  by  the  reviewer,  I  beg  leave  to 
call  your  attention  once  more  to  this  subject. 

The  second  evasion  respects  my  argument  from  the  identity  of  the  effects 
produced  by  the  Gospel,  and  by  the  evangelical  system.  The  argument 
stands  thus  :  In  the  moral  world,  moral  causes  operating  in  the  same  circum- 
stances, will  produce  the  same  effects.  The  heart  of  man  is  the  moral  world, 
and  whether  in  a  civilized  or  in  an  uncivilized  state,  is  the  same  now,  as  it 
was  in  a  civilized  or  uncivilized  state,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  The 
Gospel  also,  the  greatest  moral  cause  which  ever  operated  in  the  world,  is  the 
same  now,  as  in  the  apostolic  age.  If  then,  there  be  a  system  of  doctrines 
at  the  present  day,  whose  effects,  universally,  are  the  same  with  those  pro- 
duced by  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints,  that  system  is  the  faith  delivered  to 
the  saints.     Identity  of  moral  effect  proves  identity  of  moral  cause. 

To  this  argument  the  reviewer  replies  by  an  assertion,  that  the  maxim, 
that  moral  causes  will  produce  the  same  effects  in  the  same  circumstances,  is 
a  very  questionable  maxim  :  and  next,  by  representing  me  as  having  said  that 
the  heart  of  a  civilized  and  an  uncivilized  man  is  in  the  same  circumstances  ; 
which  he  proceeds  to  disprove  by  showing  the  great  difference  between  Eu- 
ropean, Owhj'hean,  and  Hottentot,  and  between  bigoted  Jews  and  high 
minded  Americans.  And  thus  my  entire  superstructure  of  goodly  arguments, 
rising  on  this  supposed  identity,  touched  by  the  reviewer's  wand  of  truth, 
tumbles  into  ruin.     But  have  I  said  that  the  heart  of  a  civilized  and  an  uri- 


338 

civilized  man  are  precisely  in  the  same  circumstances  ?  Nowhere.  The  sen- 
tence is,  "  The  Gospel  is  the  same  now,  as  in  the  apostolic  age,  and  the  heart 
of  man,  civilized  or  uncivilized,  is  also  the  same."  The  same  as  what .'  The 
same  as  in  the  apostolic  age.  This  is  the  only  filling  up  of  which  this  ellipti- 
cal sentence,  or  the  tenor  of  my  argument  admits.  1  was  attempting  to  show 
that  the  heart  of  man  is  in  the  same  condition  now,  as  in  the  apostolic  age ; 
and  it  would  have  been  irrelevant  and  absurd,  to  say,  that  the  heart  of  a  civi- 
lized and  of  an  uncivilized  man  are  in  the  same  circumstances.  My  position 
is,  that  in  whatever  condition  of  civilization  or  barbarism  the  Gospel  found 
the  heart  of  man  in  the  apostohc  age,  it  finds  it  in  the  same  diversity  of  con- 
dition now,  and  must  produce  now,  on  the  rnaSS  of  human  mind,  however 
diversified  by  circumstances,  the  same  effects  which  it  produced  ofi  the  same 
diversified  mass  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  The  natural  sun  does  not 
produce  the  same  effects,  exactly,  upon  the  mountain  top  and  the  valley;  or 
upon  the  forest  and  the  cultivated  field.  But  it  produces  the  same  effects 
from  age  to  age  upon  the  mountain  and  upon  the  valley,  and  upon  the  forest 
and  the  cultivated  field ;  and  it  produces  the  same  general  effect  from  age  to 
age  upon  a  country  including  all  these  varieties.  In  like  manner,  the  sun  of 
righteousness  produces,  now,  all  the  specific  difference  occasioned  by  diversity 
of  condition  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  ;  and  produces,  universally,  all  the 
great  effects  which  resulted  from  his  action  upon  the  diversified  mass  of  human 
mind.  This  is  my  meaning;  this  is  the  import  of  my  language — the  bearing 
of  my  arguments ;  the  whole  of  which  the  reviewer  has  answered  only  by 
perverting  it. 

It  is  now  time  to  remind  the  reviewer,  that  his  position,  that  external 
circumstances  control  and  modify  the  effects  of  the  Gospel,  is  proved  only  by 
his  own  ASSERTION  ;  and  is  not  true,  to  the  extent  which  he  supposes,  and 
which  his  argument  requires.  I  have  stated  a  great  variety  of  effects  which 
the  Gospel  produced,  and  which  the  evangelical  system  produces,  and  which 
the  liberal  system  does  not  produce.  He  does  not  deny  the  facts,  but  ac- 
counts for  them  upon  the  supposition,  that  the  condition  in  which  the  Gospel 
acts  on  the  human  heart  now,  is  different  from  what  it  was  in  the  apostolic 
age.  According  to  the  reviewer,  then,  external  circumstances  are  more  pow- 
erful than  the  Gospel  itself.  They  have  the  effect  of  robbing  the  Gospel  of 
all  its  primitive  energies,  and  of  bestowing  the  spoil  upon  a  system  of  false 
doctrine.  The  Uberal  system,  which,  according  to  the  reviewer,  is  the  Gospel, 
is  condemned,  with  a  cold  heart  and  paralytic  arm,  to  stand  by  and  witness  its 
own  primitive  victories  achieved,  and  its  own  primitive  blessings  scattered,  by 
a  heart  of  deception  and  a  right  hand  of  falsehood.  It  is  not  enough  in  order  to 
answer  my  argument,  to  assert  that  circumstances  are  changed.  It  must 
be  proved  that  they  are  changed  so  much,  or  can  be  so  much  changed,  as  to 
strip  the  Gospel  of  its  primitive  moral  tendencies ;  and  to  clothe  a  system  of 
false  doctrine  with  the  remarkable  power  of  producing  all  the  great  prominent 
effects,  which  in  the  primitive  age  the  Gospel  produced.  I  must  remind  the 
reviewer  once  more,  that  he  has  assumed  the  fact,  that  the  Gospel  may  be 
controled  by  circumstances  as  extensively  as  he  supposes,  not  only  without 
evidence,  but  in  opposition  to  matters  of  fact  of  undeniable  notoriety.  What 
is  there  in  the  relative  condition  of  civilized  and  uncivilized  men,  or  in  all  that 
wide  varietv'  of  circumstance  which  characterizes  high  and  low,  rich  and 
poor,  in  civilized  communities,  which  should  cause  error  to  produce  the  ef- 
fects of  truth  ?  Are  not  the  great  laws  of  human  nature  the  same ;  and  are 
not  the  hearts  of  all  men  affected  in  the  same  manner,  substantially,  by  a 
sense  of  obligation,  and  guilt,  and  danger,  and  merciful  dehverance  ?  Are  not 
the  rules  of  duty  the  same,  the  objects  of  affection  the  same,  and  the  motives 
the  same,  which  the  Gospel  presents  to  all  men  of  every  condition  ;  and  are 
not  the  great  outlines  of  christian  character  the  same ;  the  holiness,  the  re- 
pentance, the  faith,  and  the  hope  and  peace  and  joy,  the  meekness  and  humility 
and  brotherly  love  ?  The  Gospel  is  a  cause  that  touches  all  the  great  springs 
of  moral  action  w"hich  are  common  to  man  in  every  possib'  i  condition.  It 
operates  on  the  common  principles  of  our  nature,  independently  of  external 


339 

circumstances,  and  produces  every  where  the  same  glorious  change.  At 
Rome,  in  tlie  palace,  and  among  barbarians,  the  christian  character  was  the 
same.  And  to  this  day,  the  facts  are  so,  under  evangelical  preaching.  Our 
ecclesiastical  societies  include  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  learned  and  the  ig- 
norant ;  but  during  a  revival  of  religion,  some  of  every  condition  become 
christians.  They  attbrd  credible  evidence  of  a  change  of  heart,  a  change  in 
their  views  and  affections,  and  of  such  a  change  as  took  place  under  the  Gos- 
pel as  preached  by  the  apostles  ;  and  though  external  circumstances  may 
modify  the  mode  of  expressing,  and  the  strength  of  evangelical  atfections,  yet 
the  principles  in  which  all  hearts  are  alike,  must  cease,  before  the  Gospel  can 
be  stripped  of  its  primitive  effects  by  any  possible  combination  of  external 
causes. 

In  confirmation  of  this  reasoning  from  tlie  nature  of  mind,  we  appeal  to 
facts.  The  Gospel  did  produce,  upon  every  variety  of  character,  and  in  eveiy 
variety  of  condition,  substantially,  the  same  etlects  ;  and  the  same  also,  which 
the  evangelical  system  now  produces,  in  the  same  variety  of  external  condi- 
tion. It  produced  the  same  conviction  of  sin  and  sense  of  danger,  and 
prompted  the  same  inquiries,  and  gave  the  same  answers,  and  produced  the 
same  change  in  the  affections  of  the  heart,  and  conduct  of  life.  On  the  day 
of  Pentecoit,  while  Peter  preached,  Parthians  and  Medes,  Cretes  and  Arabi- 
ans, Egyptians  and  Cyrenians,  Romans,  Jews,  and  proselytes,  were  pricked  m 
the  heart,  and  said,  '  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?'  And  three  thou- 
sand of  this  mixed  multitude,  in  such  difierent  circumstances,  received  the 
word  gladly,  and  were  baptized  and  added  to  the  church,  and  continued  stead- 
fast in  the  apostles'  doctrine.  And  wherever  the  Gospel  was  preached  after 
this,  it  brought  some  of  every  condition  to  bow  the  knee  to  Christ ;  and 
whenever  evangelical  missionaries  preach  the  same  truths  among  the  heathen, 
the  same  effects  follow. 

Evasion  3.  This  respects  my  argument  derived  from  the  sameness  of  the 
objections  brought  against  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible  in  former  ages,  and  those 
which  are  urged  now  against  the  evangelical  system.  I  showed  that  the 
same  objections  were  urged  against  the  decrees  of  God,  original  sin,  entire 
depravitjs  moral  inability,  regeneration,  justification  by  faith,  and  the  sove- 
reignty of  God  in  having  mercy  on  whom  he  will,  as  taught  by  prophets,  and 
by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  as  are  ui-ged  in  modern  days  against  these  doc- 
trines, as  explained  and  taught  by  evangelical  men.  From  which  I  infei-,  that 
evangelical  men  preach  the  Gospel  as  Christ  and  his  apostles  did.  These  ob- 
jections, made  alike  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  evangelical  sys- 
tem, the  reviewer  does  not  do  me  the  favor  to  name  or  state.  But  he  perverts 
the  argument,  by  saying,  that  it  is  "  something  new  under  the  sun,  to  think 
of  proving  a  system  by  the  number  and  weight  of  objections  to  which  it  is 
liable."  But  did  the  reviewer  really  understand  me  to  urge  the  number  and 
weight  of  objections  which  are  brought  aa;ainst  the  evangelical  system,  as  evi- 
dence of  its  truth?  Could  he  not,  and  did  he  not  perceive,  that  my  argument 
is,  '  the  evangelical  system  is  the  Gospel — not  because  so  many  objections  are 
urged  against  it — but,  because,  on  all  the  leading  doctrines,  it  produces  the 
samfe  objections  which  the  Gospel  produces.'  If  he  could  not  see  this,  he  re- 
quires our  pity,  instead  of  forgiveness  ;  and  if  he  did  see  the  bearings  of  my 
argument,  I  leave  it  for  him  to  find  a  name  for  the  deed.  He  attempts,  how- 
ever, to  set  aside  the  argument  in  its  true  import,  (something  of  an  indication 
that  he  understood  it,)  not  by  denying  the  premises,  but  by  an  assertion-, 
that  the  objections  made  to  the  preaching  of  the  apostles  "  arose  from  some 
misapprehension  of  their  meaning,  or  some  prejudice  of  the  age  or  people ; 
but  that  now  their  language  is  understood,  and  these  prejudices  have  passed 
away  ;  to  say  that  the  Orthodox  system  continues  liable  to  the  same  objections, 
does  not  prove  it  to  be  the  same  system  with  that  which  the  apostles  taught, 
but  a  diderent  one." 

I  would  here  inquire  of  the  reviewer,  how  it  has  come  to  pass  that  the  lan- 
guage of  the  apostles  on  doctrinal  subjects,  should  be  understood  now,  better 
than  it  was  by  tlieir  countrymen,  to  whom  they  sj)ake  in  their  own  tongue. 


340 

and  '  in  the  local  and  peculiar  sense,'  i.  e.  the  most  common  and  popular 
sense.  Has  the  language  of  the  apostles  become  more  and  more  intelligible 
by  age,  amid  all  the  changes  of  customs  and  manners,  and  modes  of  thinking 
through  which  it  has  come  down  to  us  ?  These  were  causes  just  now,  which 
shed  disastrous  twilight  on  the  sacred  page  ;  and  rendered  that  only  the  obvi- 
ous import  of  the  apostles'  language  which  was  present  to  their  minds,  and 
was  communicated  to  the  minds  of  their  hearers,  to  whom  they  spake  in  their 
own  tongue,  and  in  the  local  and  popular  sense.  But  now  it  seems,  that  Jews 
and  Greeks,  learned  and  unlearned,  misunderstood  the  apostles,  and  made 
irrelevant  objections  ;  but  that  modern  critics  impeded  by  no  such  local  diffi- 
culties, have  with  great  ease  discerned  and  set  forth  the  true  import.  Un- 
doubtedly the  reviewer  has  a  right  to  one  side  of  this  question,  and  I  have  no 
objection  that  he  should  take  his  choice  ;  but  by  what  authority,  as  exigencies 
press,  he  takes  possession  alternately  of  both  sides,  I  do  not  perceive,  and 
must  remonstrate  against  the  liberty  which  he  seems  disposed  to  take  in  this 
respect.  But  did  the  Jews  misunderstand  the  preaching  of  the  apostles  ?  If 
they  did,  they  misunderstood  the  preaching  of  Christ ;  for  he  and  his  ai)ostleg 
preached  the' same  doctrine,  if  the\-  did,  a  majority  of  the  nation  misunder- 
stood ;  and  as  "  Unitarianism  has  never  prevailed  in  any  country,"  a  majority 
of  mankiutl  in  all  ages,  who  have  read  the  Gospels  and  epistles,  have  misun- 
derstood them.  But  is  it  credible,  that  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles,  speaking 
to  their  countr\'men  in  the  local  and  popular  use  of  terms,  should  be  misun- 
derstood by  a  majority  of  their  hearers,  and  by  a  majority  in  every  age  who 
have  read  the  New  Testament.'  Did  uninspired  men  ever  attempt  with  such 
ill  success  to  make  themselves  understood,  as  must  have  attended  the  efforts 
of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles,  to  teach  mankind  .'  I  have  another  question 
to  ask.  If  the  Jews,  and  a  majority  of  mankind  have  misunderstood  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  how  is  it  to  be  accounted  for,  that  in  all  ages 
they  should  have  misunderstood  them  so  much  alike,  as  to  produce  the  same 
objections .'  The  reviewer  has  decided  that  '  the  Gospel,  seen  under  different 
lights  and  in  different  connexions,  must  encounter  other  prejudices,  raise 
other  difficulties,  and  start  other  objections.' — Of  course,  if  evangelical  men 
misunderstand  the  Gospel  now,  they  misunderstand  it  differently  from  what 
the  Jews  did,  and  must  be  supposed  to  create,  by  their  preaching,  different 
objections.  Instead  of  this,  the  Gospel,  as  misunderstood  by  the  Jews  and  by 
evangelical  men,  now  produces  extensively  the  same  objections.  But  do  the 
same  objections  lie  against  different  systems  of  theologj'?  Do  the  Calvinistic 
and  the  Arminian  systems  produce  the  same  objections  ?  Would  two  attor- 
neys, replying  to  an  argument  which  each  misunderstood  in  a  different  man- 
ner, reply  to  it  as  if  they  understood  it  exactly  alike  .'  Only  admit  that 
the  primitive  objections  to  the  Gospel,  and  modern  objections  to  the  evangeli- 
cal system,  are  the  same,  and  the  conclusion  is  forced  upon  us,  that  the  Gos- 
pel and  the  evangelical  system  are  the  same. 

But  the  Jews  did  not  misunderstand  Christ.  He  himself  declares  that  they 
understood  him,  and  that  this  was  the  cause  of  their  opposition  to  him. 
'  Ye  have  seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my  Father.'  '  They  hated  me  with- 
out a  cause.'  '  I  am  come  in  my  Father's  name,  and  ye  receive  me  not;  if 
another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,  him  ye  will  receive.'  '  If  I  had  not 
come  and  spoken  to  them,  they  had  not  had  sin  ;  but  now  they  have  no  cloak 
for  their  sin.'  He  represents  also  the  opposition  of  the  Jews,  as  produced  by 
a  criminal  state  of  heart,  common  to  man,  and  which  would  perpetuate,  to 
other  ages,  opposition  to  the  Gospel.  '  If  the  world  hate  you,  ye  know  that 
it  hated  me  before  it  haled  you.  If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the  world  would 
love  its  own  ;  but  because  ye  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen  you 
out  of  the  world,  therefore  the  woild  hateth  you.'  We  come  then,  to  the 
same  conclusion  as  before. — The  Gospel,  as  preached  by  Christ  and  his 
apostles,  produced  a  great  varietj'-  of  objections.  The  evangelical  system  as 
preached  in  these  days,  produces  the  same  objections.  Therefore  the  evan- 
gelical system  and  the  Gospel  are  the  same. 

Evat^ion  4.     This  respects  the  argument  derived  from  the  classes  of  men 


341 

who  embraced  and  rejected  the  Gospel,  and  who  now  embrace  and  reject  the 
evangelical  system.  In  its  logical  form  the  argument  stands  thus  :  There 
was  something  in  the  Gospel  which  made  it,  relatively,  unacceptable  to  the 
rich,  and  learned,  and  voluptuous  part  of  tbe  couununity,  and,  relatively, 
more  acceptable  to  the  common  people.  But  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel, 
and  the  circumstances  of  rich  men  and  the  common  people,  are  substantially 
the  same  as  in  the  days  of  the  apostles.  That  system  of  doctrine,  therefore, 
which  is  regarded  by  the  higher  classes  of  society,  and  by  the  common  people 
now,  as  the  Gospel  was  regarded  in  the  primitive  age,  is  tbe  Gospel.  But 
the  evangelical  system  is  treated  by  the  learned  and  the  unlearned,  and  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  as  the  Gospel  was  treated  in  the  apostolic  age  ;  therefore, 
the  evangeUcal  system  is  tbe  Gospel. 

This  argument  the  reviewer  evades  and  misrepresents,  by  saying,  that  it 
admits  the  fact,  that  the  Gospel  will  be  "  more  likely  to  be  embraced  by  men, 
the  more  ignorant  they  are  on  other  subjects,  and  therefore  the  more  liable  to 
he  deceived  on  this."  But  my  argument  contains  no  such  admission.  It 
rests  on  facts  solely,  and  not  on  any  assumed  or  implied  principle  ; — on  facts 
notorious  and  undeniable  :  viz.  that  the  same  classes  of  men  rejected,  and 
the  same  classes  gladly  received  tbe  Gospel,  who  do  now  reject  or  receive 
gladly  the  evangelical  system  ; — implying,  that  tbe  Gospel  and  tbe  evangeli- 
cal system  are  tbe  same,  from  the  identity  of  their  eflects  on  the  same  classes 
of  men.  But  if  the  principle  had  been  assumed,  that  the  common  people 
are  in  a  more  favorable  condition  to  judge  of  moral  truth,  than  men  of  lit- 
erary eminence,  and  of  wealth  and  high  station,  it  would  not  follow  that 
the  more  ignorant  men  are,  the  7nore  likely  they  are  to  see  and  embrace  the 
truth  ;  any  more  than  it  would  follow,  that  because  the  medium  between 
poverty  and  riches  is  a  happier  condition  than  great  wealth,  therefore  the 
poorer  a  man  is,  the  happier  he  is.  But  if  we  had  asserted  that  the  common 
people  were  more  likely  to  understand  moral  truth,  than  some  men  of  great 
wealth,  and  powerful  intellect,  and  great  learning,  we  should  have  said 
nothing  which  could  be  sneered  at, .without  sneering  at  the  Bible.  "  For 
the  preaching  of  the  cross  is  to  them  that  perisb,  foolishness ;  for  it  is  writ- 
ten, I  will  destroy  the  wisdom  of  tbe  wise,  and  will  bring  to  nothing  the 
undei-standing  of  the  prudent.  Where  is  the  wise  ?  Where  is  the  scribe  .' 
Where  is  the  disputer  of  this  world  ?  Hath  not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom 
of  this  world  .'  For  after  that  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  tbe  world  by  wisdom 
knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them 
that  believe."  We  have  mournful  evidence,  in  the  history  of  the  heathen 
world,  of  the  renowned  exploits  of  intellect,  while  midnight  rested  on  the 
world,  in  respect  to  moral  truth.  Greece  and  Rome,  with  their  immortality 
of  intellect,  and  genius,  and  taste,  knew  not  God,  and  worshipped  idols ; 
and  if  a  man  must  be  converted,  and  become  a  little  child,  before  he  can 
enter  the  kingdom  of  God,  an  adequate  cause  would  seem  to  be  disclosed 
for  the  fact,  that  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called.  Indeed,  the 
Gospel  is  so  plain,  that  the  poor  and  the  simple  may  understand  it.  It  is 
not  so  plain  as  to  be  understood  without  a  sincere  and  prayerful  attention  to 
it,  even  by  the  learned.  It  is  not  capacity,  so  much  as  honest  and  prayerful 
attention,  which  makes  the  Gospel  plain  ;  and  this  attention,  if  it  be  bestow- 
ed by  the  common  people,  and  withheld  by  philosophers  and  men  of  emi- 
nence, will  make  the  one  ignorant,  and  the  other  mighty  in  the  Scriptiu'es, 
And  when  the  books  are  opened,  which  contain  tbe  record  of  human  actions, 
perhaps  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  pious  common  peo|)le  have  devoted  one 
hundred  times  more  honest,  prayerful  attention  to  the  Bible,  than  multitudes, 
whose  talents  and  learning  have  gained  them  fame  and  self-confidence  in  the 
present  life.  After  all,  the  true  understanding  of  the  Bible  depends  much 
upon  the  moral  state  of  the  heart;  and  great  minds  have  great  prejudices 
and  aversions,  and,  if  they  are  not  pious,  are  bindered  from  embracing  the 
truth  by  moral  causes,  which  bear  a  fearful  proportion  to  their  great  talents, 
and  extensive  acquisitions. 

But  the  reviewer  denies  that  the  aversion  of  rich  men  to  the  Gospel,  in  the 

44 


342 

primitive  age,  was  produced  by  arty  thing  in  the  Gospel,  to  which  this  class  of 
men  are  peculiarly  opposed  ;  and  asserts,  that  it  was  caused  by  temptations 
peculiar  to  their  station  in  society  at  that  time,  and  which  have  since  passed 
away.  But  the  Scriptures  have  decided  that  there  is  something  in  wealth  and 
station,  which  renders  the  Gospel  always  relatively  offensive  to  persons  of  this 
description  :  of  course  the  exception  of  the  reviewer  fails,  and  my  argument 
remains  unanswered. 

Agur  prays,  '  give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches,  lest  I  be  full  and  deny 
thee,  and  say,  who  is  the  Lord  ?  or  lest  I  be  poor  and  steal,  and  take  the 
name  of  my  God  in  vain ;' — contrasting  and  deprecating  alike  the  temptations 
of  wealth,  and  of  extreme  poverty.  '  Let  not  the  rich  man  glory  in  his 
riches.'  '  The  rich  man's  wealth  is  his  strong  city.'  '  The  rich  man  answer- 
eth  roughly.'  'Labor  not  to  be  rich.'  '  The  abundance  of  the  rich  will  not 
suffer  him  to  sleep.'  '  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  !'  Wealth  is  called  the  'mammon  of  unrighteousness,'  so 
great  is  its  liability  to  perversion  ;  '  Wo  unto  you,  ye  rich  men ;  for  ye 
have  received  your  consolation.'  '  The  cares  of  the  world,  and  the  deceitful- 
ness  of  riches,  sprang  u])  and  choked  the  word.'  It  was  a  certain  rich  man, 
that  projected  to  pull  down  and  rebuild,  the  night  that  his  soul  was  required 
of  him.  It  is  the  rich  who  '  fall  into  temptations,  and  snares,  and  into  many 
foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition.'  It 
is  the  rich  man  that  fadeth  away,  like  grass  in  his  ways.  It  was  the  rich  who 
oppressed  and  persecuted  the  primitive  christians.  It  is  the  rich  who  are  di- 
rected to  weep  and  howl  for  the  misery  that  shall  come  upon  them.  It  is 
rich  men  who  weep  over  Babylon,  while  heaven  and  the  holy  prophets  and 
apostles  rejoice.  And  it  is  rich  men,  and  mighty  men,  who  cry  to  the  rocks, 
fall  on  us ;  and  to  the  mountains,  cover  us  from  the  face  of  him  that  sitteth  on 
the  throne  ;  for  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall  be  able  to 
stand  !  No  such  language  as  this  is  ever  held  in  the  Bible  towards  persons  in 
the  common  walks  of  life.  These  passages  show  that  there  is  something  in 
wealth  and  its  attendants,  learning  and  station,  which  renders  the  self  denial, 
required  in  the  Gospel,  peculiarly  difficult  at  all  times  to  persons  of  this  de- 
scription. The  language  is  not  confined  to  the  time  of  Christ.  It  begins  far 
back  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  comes  down  to  a  period  long  subsequent  to 
the  primitive  age.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  perceive  and  account  for  these  ten- 
dencies of  elevated  condition  to  impede  the  reception  of  the  Gospel.  Ex- 
alted stations  increase  self-estimation,  and  render  proportionably  offensive, 
the  charge  of  guilt  and  danger.  Intellectual  power  augments  self-confidence 
and  pride,  and  increases  the  reluctance  of  the  heart  to  rely  implicitly  on  the 
testimony  of  God,  and  receive  his  kingdom  as  a  little  child.  Wealth,  and  its 
cares  and  pleasures,  monopolize  time,  engross  thought,  captivate  affection, 
prevent  attendance  on  the  means  of  grace,  or  wholly  prevent,  or  speedily  ob- 
literate, their  impression.  Men  of  wealth,  and  taste,  and  eminence,  are  un- 
willing to  be  preached  to,  or  spoken  to,  with  that  earnestness  and  directness  of 
application,  which  constitute  the  chief  means  of  success  in  the  conviction  and 
conversion  of  sinners.  So  that  through  their  pride,  and  our  fear  of  man,  they 
often  do  not  enjoy  the  means  of  grace  in  the  same  degree,  in  which  they  are 
enjoyed  by  the  common  people.  Their  condition  and  business  in  life  bring 
them  also,  more  into  contact  with  the  world,  and  less  into  fellowship  with  the 
people  of  God,  than  is  true  of  any  other  class  of  society  : — exposing  them  to 
greater  temptations,  with  fewer  means  of  preservation.  Wealth  also,  multi- 
plies the  facilities  and  the  temptations  to  a  voluptuous  life  ;  while  a  bad  life 
increases  at  once  the  aversion  to  the  Gospel,  and  the  temptation  to  irreligion 
and  infidelity.  Indeed,  if  there  be  on  earth  a  class  of  men  to  whom  the  requisi- 
tions of  meekness  and  lowliness  of  mind,  and  of  temperance  and  strict  morality, 
must  be  peculiai'ly  offensive,  it  must  be  men  of  elevated  minds  in  the  higher 
orders  of  society,  and,  especially,  pleasure-loving  vohipluaries.  There  are  then, 
in  the  very  circumstance  of  wealth  and  elevated  condition,  moral  causes  of 
peculiar  power,  and  permanent,  universal  operation,  to  render  the  real  Gospel 
of  our  Lord  peculiarly  unpalatable.    And  there  was  not,  as  the  reviewer  as- 


343 

sERTs,  any  thing  which  rendered  it  peculiarly  a  matter  of  interest,  and  policy, 
and  ambition,  to  men  of  character  and  wealth  among  them,  to  oppose  the 
Gospel,  beside  that  peculiarity  of  character  associated  with  their  condition, 
and  which  consisted  in  the  peculiar  aversion  of  their  hearts  to  the  humbling 
requisitions  of  the  Gospel.  There  was  nothing  in  tlie  Gospel  dispensation 
which  was  not  a  matter  of  prediction  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  attended  by 
evidence  in  the  New,  which  nothing  but  the  darkness  of  a  heart  obdurately 
wicked  could  resist.  And  it  was  for  yielding  to  such  prejudices,  that  they 
were  abandoned  of  heaven,  and  given  up  to  that  blindness  which  has  con- 
tinued to  this  day.  There  was  no  odium  in  embracing  the  Gospel,  and  no 
policy  or  ambition  concerned  in  rejecting  it,  which  the  opposition  to  it  ema- 
nating from  their  ov\-n  hearts,  did  not  tirst  create.  The  acceptance  of  the 
Gospel  by  the  higher  orders  of  society,  would  not  have  endangered  their 
property,  or  lowered  their  relative  standing  in  society.  The  new  dispensa- 
tion was  as  consistent  with  the  possession  of  wealth  and  station,  as  the  old  ; 
and  if  men  of  wealth  and  office  in  the  Jewish  church  had  embraced  the  Gos- 
pel, they  could  have  enjoyed,  as  good  men,  in  church  and  in  state,  the  same 
relative  elevation,  v.hich  they  held  in  the  Jewish  church,  in  the  character  of 
unprincipled  and  wicked  men.  They  were  not  therefore  afraid  of  the  com- 
mon people,  and  of  the  loss  of  popularity ;  for  the  common  people  were  dis- 
posed to  acknowledge  the  claims  of  Christ,  and  were  prevented  fiom  doing  it 
by  the  influence  of  men  in  the  higher  orders  of  society.  And  as  to  persecu- 
tion, who  would  have  persecuted,  if  the  rich,  and  mighty,  and  noble,  among 
the  Jews,  had  embraced  the  Gospel  ?  But,  had  there  been  some  circumstan- 
ces peculiar  to  the  primitive  age,  which  gave  a  temporary  increase  of  power 
to  the  temptations  of  wealth,  the  cessation  of  what  was  peculiar  would  not 
annihilate  the  influence  of  those  temptations  of  wealth  which  were  perma- 
nent and  universal.  Still  there  would  be,  then  and  now,  something  in  the 
Gospel  which  would  render  it  relatively  acceptable  to  the  common  people, 
and  relatively  unacceptable  to  persons  in  the  higher  orders  of  society.  That 
system  of  doctrines,  therefore,  which  is  regarded  by  men  of  wealth  and  emi- 
nence, and  by  the  common  people  also,  as  the  Gospel  was  regarded  by  them, 
is  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Evasion  5.  This  respects  my  argument  derived  from  the  efficacy  of  the 
Gospel,  and  of  the  evangelical  system,  to  reclaim  those  who  have  long  been 
under  the  dominion  of  vicious  habits.     My  statement  is, 

1.  That  the  evangelical  syst^,  Uke  the  Gospel,  reclaims  those  who  have 
been  long  under  the  dominion  of  vicious  habits. 

2.  That  it  reclaims  them  suddenly,  as  the  Gospel  did. 

3.  That  in  many  cases,  the  era  of  reformation  is  the  abandonment  of  the 
liberal  system,  and  the  adoption  of  the  evangelical ;  and  under  such  circum- 
stances, as  clearly  show  that  evangelical  doctrines  were  the  moral  cause  of  the 
reformation. 

4.  That  instances  of  the  reformation  of  vicious  persons,  are  rare  events  un- 
der Unitarian  preaching,  if  they  exist  at  all. 

5.  That  sucii  reformations  never  take  place  suddenly  ;  nor  at  the  time  of 
abandoning  Orthodox,  and  adopting  Unitarian  doctrines ;  nor,  evidently,  as  the 
moral  effect  of  the  latter  system. 

6.  I  confirm  the  efficacy  of  evangelical  preaching,  and  the  inefficacy  of 
Unitarian  preaching  to  reclaim  the  vicious,  b}'  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Chalmers. 

To  this  the  reviewer  replies, 

1.  That  I  have  assumed  that  all  who  are  not  Orthodox  christians,  are  liberal 
christians. 

2.  That  when  I  speak  of  liberal  christians  renouncing  their  vicious  and  prof- 
ligate habits  upon  embracing  Orthodoxy,  there  is  an  absurdity  in  the  proposi- 
tion which  refutes  itself. 

3.  That  some  nominal  christians  go  over  to  the  Orthodox  party  and  reform 
their  lives,  he  admits  as  probable  :  But, 

4.  He  ASSERTS  that  the  same  is  true  of  nominal  christians  who  come  over 


344 

to  the  liberal  system,  and  embrace  it  sincerely,  as  can  be  testified  by  a  thou- 
sand examples. 

In  reply,  1  have  only  to  say,  that  I  have  nowhere  assumed  that  all  those 
who  are  not  Orthodox  christians  are  liberal  christians;  and  that  I  have  no 
where  fallen  into  the  absurdity  of  speaking  of  liberal  christians  renouncing 
their  vicious  habits  upon  embracing  Orlhodoxy-  My  argument  has  no  refer- 
ence to  christians  of  any  kind.  It  begins  and  ends  with,  "  persons  long  un- 
der the  dominion  of  vicious  habits."  The  reviewer  therefore  has  shifted  the 
ground  of  my  argument,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  seem  to  reply  to  it,  while  he 
passes  it  untouched.  Had  he  used  the  terms  of  my  argument,  his  reply 
would  have  stood  thus.  "  When  Dr.  B.  speaks  (p.  236.)  of  persons  long  un- 
der the  donunion  of  vicious  habits,  as  renouncing  their  vicious  and  profligate 
habits  on  embracing  Orlhodoxy,  there  is  an  absurdity  in  the  proposition  which 
refutes  itself."  Where  ?  Not  in  my  proposition,  but  in  one  which  the  re- 
viewer has  himself  imagined,  and  ascribed  tome.  Again,  he  ought  to  have 
said,  "  That  some  persons  long  under  the  dominion  of  vicious  habits,  go  over 
to  the  Orthodox  party,  and  reform  their  lives  upon  it,  is  probable.  But  the 
same  is  also  true  of  vicious  and  profligate  persons  who  come  over  to  the  libe- 
ral system  and  embrace  it  sincerely,  as  can  be  testitied  by  a  thousand  exam- 
ples." This  is  what  the  reviewer  was  required  to  say,  to  meet  my  argument ; 
and  if  it  is  what  he  meant  to  say,  I  would  ask  him  why  he  qualifles  the  asserted 
fict,  of  the  reformation  of  profligates  when  they  change  from  the  Orthodox 
to  the  liberal  system,  by  saying,  "  if  they  embrace  it  sincerely."  My  argu- 
ment stands  on  the  unqualilied  fact,  that  when  profligates  turn  from  liberal  to 
Orthodox  opinions,  they  do  reform  ;  but  the  reviewer  replies,  that  the  same  is 
true  when  profligates  turn  from  Orthodox  to  liberal  opinions,  if  they  embrace 
them  sincerely ; — admitting,  as  I  should  think,  tliat  many  vicious  and  profli- 
gate men  turn  from  Orthodox  to  liberal  opinions,  without  reformation  ;  and 
implying  a  consciousness  that  the  fact  is  too  notorious  to  be  denied.  I  would 
ask  the  reviewer  again,  whether  he  does  upon  his  conscience  believe  that 
profligates  who  abandon  Orthodoxy  and  go  over  to  the  liberal  system,  are  as 
often  reformed  by  the  transition,  as  when  profligates  abandon  the  liberal  sys- 
tem and  embrace  the  Orthodox.  And  once  more,  1  would  ask  the  reviewer 
to  produce  one  well  authenticated  instance  of  a  profligate  person  reclaimed, 
on  abandoning  Orthodox  and  embracing  liberal  opinions,  in  such  circumstan- 
ces as  clearly  to  show  that  liis  liberal  opinions  were  the  moral  cause  of  his 
reformation.  One  well  authenticated  fact,  illustrating  the  reforming  efficacy 
of  the  liberal  system,  will  furnish  more  evidence  than  one  thousand  asserted 
reformations ;  and  it  cannot  be  deemed  a  hardship  by  the  reviewer,  that  he 
be  required  to  substantiate,  by  other  testimony  than  assertion,  one  of  a 
thousand  reformations  produced  by  the  liberal  system,  every  one  of  which 
"  may  be  easily  proved." 

Evasion  6.  This  respects  the  argument  concerning  the  efficacy  of  the  Gos- 
pel and  the  evangelical  system  to  produce  revivals  of  religion.  I  stated  a 
number  of  the  effl'cts  vvdiich  the  Gospel  produced,  such  as  sudden  fear,  and 
conviction  of  sin  followed  by  sudden  joy,  and  practical  reformation,  and  a 
holy  life ;  and  showed  that  evangelical  preaching  produces  the  same  effects, 
and  that  Unitarian  preaching  does  not  jjroduce  these  effects. 

To  have  met  this  argument  fairly,  the  reviewer  should  have  denied  either 
the  premises  or  the  conclusion.  Instead  of  this,  he  wanders  away  from  the 
argument,  and  talks  about  his  suspicion  that  Unitarians  may  have  carried  their 
opposition  to  revivals  to  an  extreme ;  but  subjoins  that  it  is  not  for  want  of 
any  power  in  Unitarian  principles  to  produce  revivals,  that  they  so  seldom 
occur  among  Unitarians  ;  but  because  they  differ  from  the  Orthodox  as  to  their 
value  and  importance.  But  how  does  the  reviewer  ascertain  this  unapplied 
power  of  Unitarian  doctrines  to  produce  revivals  of  religion  .'  The  evidence 
which  he  gives  to  his  readers  of  the  fict,  is  his  own  assertion, — a  kind  of 
evidence  for  which  he  manifests  an  undue  partiality,  and  I  would  humbly  sub- 
niit  the  question,  whether  it  might  not  be  well  to  establish  (he  efficacy  of  Uni- 
tarian doctrines  to  produce  revivals  of  religion,  by  at  least  one  experiment. 


345 

If  it  should  happen  to  succeed,  it  could  do  no  great  harm,  and  it  would  re- 
move more  doubts,  and  produce  more  conviction  on  the  subject,  than  twenty 
assertions.  I  cannot,  at  the  same  time,  but  indulge  a  strong  curiosity  to  wit- 
ness the  experiment,  and  see  how  Unitarians  can  contrive  to  make  their  doc- 
trines produce  the  phenomena  of  revivals  of  religion  : — how  the  doctrine, 
that  men  are  not  depraved  by  nature  can  make  the  hearers /eeZ  as  if  they 
were  ;  and  how  the  doctrine  that  men  are  not  entirely  depraved,  can  cause 
them  to  feel  that  they  are  desperately  wicked ;  how  the  doctrine  that  they 
can  be  saved  without  an  atonement,  can  produce  despair  of  salvation  only 
through  the  atonement ;  how  the  doctrine  that  they  can  be  saved  by  repen- 
tance and  good  wishes,  can  inspire  the  hope  of  salvation  only  by  the  right- 
eousness which  is  by  faith ;  how  the  doctrine  that  men  do  not  need  a  radical 
change  of  heart,  can  possess  them  of  the  idea,  that  they  shall  perish  without 
such  a  change  ;  how  the  doctrine  that  men  can  and  do  accomplish  their  own 
moral  renovation,  gradually,  without  any  special  and  supernatural  aid  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  should  extinguish  all  hope  of  attaining  this  change  by  their  own 
endeavors,  and  only  by  the  sovereign  and  special  interposition  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  how  the  doctrine  that  men  do  not  deserve  much  punishment,  and  are 
in  very  little  danger  even  of  that,  can  fill  them  with  sudden  fears  of  everlast- 
ing destruction,  and  with  sudden  joy  at  being  delivered  from  the  wrath  to 
come  ;  and  finally,  how  men  who  have  not  much  that  is  old  to  lose,  or  that  is 
new  to  gain,  to  fit  them  for  heaven,  can  be  made  to  feel  that  old  things  have 
passed  awa}',  and  all  things  have  become  new. 

I  cannot  pass  from  this  topic  without  calling  your  attention  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  reviewer  corroborates  the  argument  he  would  overthrow.  The 
Gospel  rendered  primitive  christians  desirous  of  producing  revivals  of  religion, 
and  the  evangelical  system  produces  the  same  desire.  Thay  agree  as  to  their 
"  value  and  importance."  While  the  liberal  system  renders  some  so  opposed 
to  revivals,  as  to  induce  the  use  of  "  improper  and  indecorous  language  in 
speaking  of  them."  Now  if  Unitarians  are,  by  their  faith,  brought  under  the 
influence  of  the  Gospel,  how  docs  it  come  to  pass,  that  they  feel  so  differently 
about  the  use  and  importance  of  revivals  from  what  the  primitive  christians 
felt ;  and  if  the  system  of  doctrine  which  the  Orthodox  are  under,  is  not  the 
Gospel,  how  is  it  to  be  accounted  for,  that  they  should  estimate  the  use  and 
importance  of  revivals,  just  as  the  primitive  christians  did  ? 

Evasion  7.  This  respects  my  position,  that  the  evangelical  system  produ- 
ces the  same  traits  of  christian  character  which  the  Gospel  produced.  To 
this  the  reviewer  replies,  that  we  are  not  agreed  as  to  what  constitutes  truly 
christian  character.  Of  this  fact  I  have  long  been  sensible.  We  employ  the 
same  words  to  designate  the  christian  graces,  but  seldom,  if  ever,  intend  the 
same  state  of  heart.  This  is  the  fearful  difference  between  Unitarians  and  the 
Orthodox.  Our  religion  is  as  different  from  their  religion,  as  our  doctrines  ;  and 
so  different  is  it,  that  if  ours  is  true  religion,  theirs  is  not.  Unitarians  do  not 
mean  by  holiness,  repentance  and  faith,  the  same  things  that  the  Orthodox  mean 
by  them  ;  and  they  do  not  mean  any  thing,  that  to  our  apprehension,  amounts  to 
true  religion.  My  argument  supposes  that  we  differ  in  this  important  manner, 
and  infers  that  our  views  are  evangelical,  because  they  produce  the  same  kind 
of  christian  experience  which  the  Gospel  produced.  I  specified  the  kind  of 
experience  to  which  I  alluded, — a  piety  of  the  same  solemnity  and  ardor, 
producing  the  same  delight  in  public  worship  and  associations  for  conference 
and  prayer,  the  same  solicitude  for  the  awakening  and  conversion  of  sinners, 
the  same  moral  courage  in  the  avowal  of  their  faith  in  the  lace  of  obloquy. 
And  to  show  that  Unitarian  piety  is  not  the  same  thing,  I  alluded  to  the  char- 
ges made  against  the  religion  of  the  Orthodox,  as  morose,  and  gloomy,  and 
enthusiastic ;  to  their  lax  attendance  on  public  worship,  and  aversion  to 
meetings  for  conference  and  prayer ;  to  the  ridicule  east  by  Unitarians,  on 
what  the  Orthodox  consider  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  conviction  and 
conversion  of  sinners  ;  and  to  the  temporizing  policy  of  that  "  very  large  pro- 
portion of  men  throughout  our  country,  who,  for  their  talents,  and  learning, 
and  virtues,  have  the  most  influence  in  the  community,  and  have  it  in  their 


346 

power  to  do  tlie  most  towards  giving  a  right  direction  to  the  puWic  feeling 
and  the  public  sentiment,  who  are  prevented  from  making  a  public  avowal  of 
their  opinions  by  an  unwillingness  to  encounter  obloquy,  and  loss  of  confi- 
dence, and  the  power  of  being  useful."  All  these  facts,  on  which  I  relied  to 
prove  the  distinctive  trait  of  Orthodox  piety,  as  distinguished  from  Unitarian, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  piety  of  the  primitive  age,  the  reviewer  has  passed 
over  in  utter  silence.  His  philosophy  seems  to  have  no  curiosity  to  pry  into 
the  causes  of  these  striking  coincidences  of  Orthodox  and  primitive  piety, 
and  the  no  less  striking  discrepances  between  primitive  piety  and  Unitarian 
piety.  Nay,  plain  as  the  argument  might  seem  to  be,  he  misunderstands,  and 
evades,  and  misrepresents  it.  He  replies,  as  if  I  had  begged  the  question 
that  Orthodox  views  of  christian  experience  are  correct ;  and  that,  as  Unita- 
rian doctrines  do  not  produce  the  same  sort  of  christian  experience,  they  can 
not  be  the  Gospel ;  whereas  the  point  to  be  ascertained  was,  whose  views  of 
doctrine  are  in  accordance  with  the  Gospel :  and  the  agreement  of  Orthodox 
piety,  and  the  disagreement  of  Unitarian  piety,  in  the  particulars  specified, 
with  the  piety  produced  by  the  Gospel  in  the  primitive  age,  is  the  evidence 
which  I  relied  upon  to  prove  that  the  hearts  of  the  Orthodox  are  under  the  in- 
lluence  of  the  same  system  of  doctrines,  which  the  hearts  of  primitive  chris- 
tians were  under, — because  they  are  the  subjects  of  the  same  eft'ects.  I  did 
not  therefore  beg  the  question,  and  the  reviewer,  as  you  must  perceive,  did 
evade  and  misrepresent  my  argument. 

Evasion,  8.  This  respects  the  identity  of  effects  produced  by  the  Gospel, 
and  by  the  evangelical  system,  in  respect  to  missionary  enterprise.  To  this 
argument  the  reviewer  rephes  by  an  assertion,  that  "  it  is  not  from  any 
difference  in  their  religious  principles,  that  Unitarians  have  been  less  forward 
and  unanimous  in  this  undertaking ;  but  because  they  differ  from  the  Ortho- 
dox as  to  the  practicability  and  general  expediency  of  any  course  of  measures 
which  has  yet  been  proposed."  An  acute  philosopher  the  reviewer  must  cer- 
tainly be  allowed  to  be.  Hitherto,  men  of  the  greatest  eminence,  such  as 
Bacon,  Newton,  and  Locke,  have  been  condemned  to  make  experiments,  and 
collect  facts,  to  ascertain  the  nature  and  tendency  of  things  ;  but  to  the  mind 
of  the  reviewer,  the  powers  of  the  Unitarian  system  to  produce  missionary 
enterprise  are  open  and  naked  without  experiment.  This  must  be  allowed  to 
be  a  royal  road  to  science.  But  while  he  is  so  keen-sighted  intuitively,  how 
is  it  to  be  accounted  for,  that  such  dimness  of  vision  should  have  fallen  upon 
his  natural  powers  ?  He  cannot  perceive  the  point  of  an  argument,  and 
seems  to  go  astray  from  it  with  instinctive  honesty.  He  does  not  appear  to 
understand  that  my  argument  turns  on  the  fact,  that  the  primitive  christians 
under  Gospel  preaching,  and  modern  christians  under  Orthodox  preaching, 
feel  and  act  alike  on  the  subject  of  missions,  and  that  Unitarians  do  not  feel  and 
act  as  the  primitive  christians  did,  or  as  Orthodox  christians  feel  and  act. 
Now  this  agreement  in  feehng  and  conduct  between  the  primitive  church  and 
the  Orthodox  church,  and  this  difference  in  feeling  and  conduct  between  these 
and  Unitarians,  the  reviewer  admits,  and  yet  seems  not  to  know  that  the  in- 
ference which  I  drew,  and  which  philosophy  warrants,  is,  that  therefore  the 
primitive  churches  and  the  Orthodox  are  acting  under  the  impulse  of  the 
same  moral  causes  ;  consequently  the  evangelical  system  and  the  Gospel  are 
the  same,  and  the  Unitarian  system  is  not  the  Gospel.  Instead  however  of 
troubling  himself  with  facts,  or  inferences,  he  contents  himself  with  giving  us 
the  reasons  why  Unitarians  differ  from  the  primitive  christians,  and  from  the 
Orthodox,  on  the  subject  of  missions.  It  is  because  Unitarians  cannot  be 
persuaded  of  the  practicability  and  expediency  of  any  course  of  measures.  But 
how  does  it  ha])pen  that  the  primitive  christians  could  be  persuaded,  and  that 
Orthodox  christians  can  be  persuaded,  of  the  practicability  and  expediency 
of  a  course  of  measures,  and  that  Unitarians  cannot  l)e  persuaded  ?  How  has 
itliappened  that  the  primitive  and  the  Orthodox  churches  found  a  plan  which 
"  reason  and  God  approved,"  while  Unitarians  can  find  no  such  plan  ?  And 
how  has  it  come  to  pass,  that  this  plan,  which  the  primitive  christians  ap- 
proved, and  which  carried  them  forth  into  all  the  earth  to  preach  the  Gospel 


347 

to  every  creature — a  plan  which  has  bestowed  upon  the  world  all  the  bles- 
sings of  the  Gospel  which  it  has  enjoyed,  should  be  apjjroved  by  the  Orthodox 
following  it  up,  and  be  disapproved,  and  distrusted,  and  neglected,  by  Unitari- 
ans ?  What  plan  do  they  want  ?  What  plan  do  they  expect  ?  A  plan  to  con- 
vert the  world  without  Bibles,  and  without  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and 
without  charitable  aid  at  home,  and  self-denial,  and  effort,  by  missionaries 
abroad  ?  The  plan  now  in  operation  has  been  tried,  has  been  approved  of  by 
reason  and  God,  has  done  all  that  has  been  done  to  enlighten  and  save  a  world 
sitting  in  darkness.  But  this  plan  Unitarians  do  not  like  ;  and  they  have 
seated  themselves  in  their  easy  chairs,  and  sent  out  the  proclamation,  that  if 
any  body  will  bring  them  a  plan  which  reason  and  God  approve,  and  con- 
vince them  that  it  is  practicable,  then  they  will— will  what?  Embark  in  the 
work  of  missions  ?  No  ;  "  will  have  motives  for  engaging  in  it,  as  near  to  infi- 
nite, as  finite  beings  are  capable  of  feeling  or  comprchynding." — What  if  the 
apostles  had  sent  out  a  proclamation  to  a  world  lying  in  wickedness,  that  if 
any  body  would  bring  them  a  plan  for  evangelizing  the  world,  which  they 
liked,  and  prove  to  them  that  it  would  succeed,  before  they  tried  it,  they 
should  have  motives  almost  infinite,  to  make  an  attempt,  and  would  then  take 
the  matter  into  serious  consideration  ?  What  had  been  the  condition  of  the 
world,  had  Unitarians,  who  do  not  approve  of  revivals  of  religion,  and  sudden 
conversions,  and  missionary  efforts,  preached  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and 
superintended  the  work  of  primitive  missions,  instead  of  the  apostles  ?  And 
who  understand  the  Gospel  correctly,  and  who  feel  its  power ; — they  who  feel 
and  act  on  the  subject  of  missions  as  the  apostles  and  primitive  christians  felt 
and  acted ;  or  they  who  feel  and  act  on  the  subject  just  the  contrary  from 
what  they  did  ? 


NO.   IV. 

To  ihe  Editor  of  the  Christian  Examiner. 

Evasion  9.  This  respects  my  argument  from  the  confidence  and  stability 
of  the  primitive  christians  and  the  Orthodox  in  their  doctrinal  belief,  and  the 
fluctuation  and  uncertainty  of  Unitarians. 

To  this  argument  the  reviewer  replies,  as  if  I  had  said  only,  that  Unitarians, 
educated  in  error,  disencumber  themselves  of  error,  and  embrace  the  truth 
gradually,  and  with  an  air  of  triumph,  asks  "  the  gentlemen  who  are  so  fond 
of  this  argument,  how  they  could  expect,  from  what  they  know  of  the  hinnan 
mind,  that  a  man  who  had  been  educated  in  the  belief  of  many  errors,  should 
succeed  in  shaking  these  errors  of!'— at  once,  or  successively  ?"  And  he  asks 
again  "  how  it  was  with  Luther  and  his  partizans  ;  did  they  renounce  the 
errors  of  the  Romish  church  at  once,  or  successively?  Nay,  we  woidd  appeal 
to  Dr.  Beecher's  own  experience.  Let  him  remember  that  he  holds  the  very 
lowest  form  of  that  new  divinity  which  the  Calvinists  of  the  south  liave  pub- 
licly proclaimed  to  be  at  war  with  the  philosophy  of  the  human  mind,"  &c. 
I  must  remonstrate  against  the  tax  which  the  reviewer  would  impose  on  my 
memory.  I  do  remember  that  I  have  not  given  up  a  single  article  of  my 
doctrinal  belief  since  the  hope  of  pardon  dawned  in  my  heart,  and  my  initia- 
tory preparation  to  preach  the  Gospel  was  concluded.  I  do  remember  that 
the  reviewer  has  said,  that  the  epitome  which  I  have  given  of  my  doctrinal 
belief  is  decidedly  anti-calvinistic.  But  how  I  can  remember  at  his  bidding, 
and  on  his  authority,  that  it  is  also  "  the  new  divinity  system,  in  its  lowest 
form,"  is  more  than  1  can  comprehend. 

The  whole  reply  of  the  reviewer  proceeds  on  a  mistatement  of  my  argu- 
ment. My  position  is,  that  the  primitive  christians  and  the  Orthodox  are 
alike  in  this  respect,  that  they  maintain,  with  singular  confidence  of  their 
truth,  the  doctrines  which  they  etidirace,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  ; 
but  that  Unitarians  who  have  been  educated  in  Orthodoxy,  abandon  what 
they  call  one  error,  and  adopt  what  afterwards  they  call  another,  and  aban- 


348 

don  this,  and  adopt  a  third  error,  and  abandon  this  and  adopt  a  fourth,  and 
are  ever  learning  their  past  errors  ;  and  are  confident  of  nothing  but  that  in 
all  their  opinions  except  the  last,  tliey  have  been  wrong;  while  even  these, 
as  it  is  meet  they  should  after  such  reiterated  admonition  of  their  frailty,  they 
hold  with  such  magnanimous  uncertainty  as  renders  confidence  arrogant, 
and  justifies  the  charitable  hope  that  those  who  differ  from  them  are  as 
honest,  as  sincere,  and  as  diligent  and  likely  to  be  right,  as  themselves. 
Their  charity  seems  to  proceed  upon  the  supposition  that  they  themselves  do 
not,  and  cannot,  know  the  truth,  while  the  charity  and  fellowship  of  the 
primitive  christians  proceeded  upon  the  supposition,  that  having  the  unction 
from  the  Holy  One,  they  can  know,  and  do  know,  the  truth.  It  was  to 
substantiate  this  charge  of  mutability,  and  changing  from  one  error  to  another, 
that  I  quoted  Priestley,  without  supposing  that  matters  of  foct  lost  their  power 
of  evidence  by  reiterated  quotation,  or  that  arguments  oft  repeated  and  un- 
answered, should  therefore  wax  old  and  pass  away. 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  we  adopt  our  faith  blindly,  and  make  no  progress  in 
our  knowledge  of  the  truth,  because  we  hold  fast  the  first  principles  of  our 
early  profession.  For  elementary  truths  may  be  held  in  combination  with 
error,  which  time  and  study  may  sift  out ;  and  the  truths  themselves  are  capable 
of  almost  indefinite  varieties  of  statement  and  explanation,  without  abandoning 
the  elementary  positions  themselves.  These  modified  statements  Unitarians 
mistake  for  a  change  in  our  principles,  when  we  only  av^ail  ourselves,  as 
Providence  designed  we  should,  of  heresies  and  errors,  to  render  our  state- 
ment of  doctrines  more  exact,  and  our  positions  more  impregnable  to  assault. 
Our  progress,  therefore,  consists  not  in  tearing  up  old  foundations,  but  in 
rearing  and  beautifying  the  superstructure  that  rests  upon  them, — a  progress 
in  which,  the  farther  we  proceed,  the  more  we  believe  that  our  first  principles 
are  those  of  the  oracles  of  God  ;  and  not  a  progress  which  convinces  us  that 
we  never  have  been  right,  and  makes  us  uncertain  how  long  we  shall  be- 
lieve as  we  now  do,  or  what  will  come  next. 

The  reviewer  possesses,  unquestionably,  the  most  singular  mind  with  which 
it  has  ever  been  my  lot  to  come  in  contact.  It  would  be  invidious  to  charge 
him  with  evading  by  design,  the  points  of  so  many  arguments  ;  and  yet  that 
he  should  always  happen  to  do  it,  and  vi'ith  as  much  dexterity  as  if  he  pos- 
sessed intellectual  eyesight,  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  singularly  myste- 
rious. 

Evasion  10.  This  respects  my  argument  concerning  the  decisions  of 
councils  on  the  subject  of  heresy,  in  the  early  ages  of  the  church.  The 
argument  stands  thus :  Doctrinal  opinions,  with  large  bodies  of  men,  and 
widely  extended,  do  not  change  suddenly ;  and  when  they  do  change,  the 
fact  is  one  of  such  notoriety,  as  is  not  forgotten  in  a  few  centuries.  The 
declaration  of  the  universal  clunch  therefore,  represented  in  council  during 
the  three  first  centuries,  that  certain  doctrines  are  heretical,  is  presumptive 
evidence  that  they  are  in  opposition  to  the  antecedently  received  opinions 
of  the  church.  "  From  the  nature  then,  and  known  eras,  of  the  several 
heresies,"  I  infer,  and  state  by  way  of  inference,  what  must  have  been  the 
antecedently  received  doctrines  of  the  church.  The  correctness  of  this  in- 
ference the  reviewer  has  a  right  to  disprove,  if  he  can,  by  historical  evi- 
dence ;  but  he  has  no  right  to  say,  that  what  I  have  asserted  as  the  conclusion 
of  an  argument,  is  asserted  as  an  independent  historical  fact.  I  shall  not 
demand  justice  of  the  reviewer  with  the  alternative  of  retraction,  or  lying 
under  the  imputation  of  a  shameless  calumny ;  I  shall  trust  rather  to  his 
sense  of  honor,  to  his  conscience,  to  the  milk  of  human  kindness  in  him, 
without  attempting  to  terrify  him  by  threats,  to  do  his  duty. 

I  am  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  reviewer  will  be  able  even  now  to 
understand  my  argument,  and  I  shall  endeavor  to  make  it  still  more  intelligi- 
ble. The  Council  of  Nice,  A.  D.  325,  was  the  first  Council  which  was  ever 
held,  in  which  the  whole  christian  church  on  earth  was  represented.  It  was 
convened  by  Constantine,  the  first  Christian  emperor,  to  decide  what  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Bible,  and  of  the  primitive  church,  concerning  the  divinity  of 


349 

eur  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  this  council,  composed  according  to  some  ac- 
counts of  two  thousand  ecclesiastics,  of  whom  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
were  bishops,  the  doctrine  of  Arius  was  condemned  as  a  heresy,  and  the  doc- 
trine of  the  divinity  of  Christ  was  declared  to  be  the  true  faith,  by  a  decision 
almost  unanimous.  Now  my  argument  stands  thus :  If  the  doctrine  of  Arius 
was  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints,  it  must  have  continued  to  be  the  re- 
ceived opinion  of  the  church,  at  least  during  the  life-time  of  the  apostles ; 
which,  including  the  life  of  John,  takes  in  about  the  first  century.  From 
the  close  of  the  first  century  to  the  council  of  Nice,  is  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  years.  If  then  the  Arian  is  the  true  faith,  it  must  have  ceased  from 
the  whole  church  on  earth  during  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years,  and  in 
the  same  time  the  heresy  of  Christ's  divinity  must  have  come  in  and  been  re- 
ceived universally,  and  without  controversy.  So  that  when  the  whole  church 
met  by  delegation,  to  investigate  the  matter,  nearly  every  delegate,  from 
every  country,  came  with  the  belief  that  the  docti'ine  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ  had  always  been  an  article  of  the  Orthodox  or  primitive  faith.  It  is  as 
if,  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  after  the  settlement  of  New  England, 
it  should  be  claimed  that  the  churches  of  New  England  were  Arminian  from 
the  beginning;  and  a  council  should  be  called,  composed  of  delegates  from 
the  churches,  to  decide  what  was  the  primitive  faith  of  the  New  England 
churches,  and  should  decide  with  great  unanimity  that  it  was  Calvinistic. 
Now,  would  the  faith  of  the  New  England  fathers,  if  it  had  been  Arminian, 
sink  into  total  oblivion  all  over  New  England,  without  noise  or  controversy, 
and  the  Calvinistic  system  without  noise  or  controversy  universally  come  in, 
so  that,  in  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years,  a  council  convened  by  public 
authority,  on  purpose  to  determine  what  was  the  primitive  faith  of  New  Eng- 
land, should  with  great  unanimity  decide  that  it  was  Calvinistic,  and  should 
declare  the  Arminian  system  to  be  a  heresy  ?  But  if  we  suppose  some  in  the 
churches  to  have  survived  the  apostle  John  fifty  years,  and  some  in  the  Ni- 
cene  council  to  have  known  the  received  opinion  of  the  church  for  fifty  years 
before,  we  reduce  the  time  in  which  the  created  nature  of  Christ,  if  taught 
by  the  apostles,  must  have  been  forgotten,  and  his  divinity  have  taken  its 
place  without  resistance  or  controversy,  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
years.  I  have  said,  that  the  laws  of 'the  human  mind  forbid  the  supposition 
of  a  universal  change  in  so  short  a  time ;  and  that  we  may  as  well  suppose 
that  all  the  rivers  in  the  Roman  empire  were  reverted  in  their  course  during 
one  or  two  hundred  years,  and  that  all  the  naturalists  in  the  Roman  empire, 
convened  by  authority  to  decide  which  was  their  primitive  direction,  should 
with  great  unanimity  decide  against  fact,  that  they  had  always  run  in  their 
present  direction.  The  argument  in  respect  to  the  doctrines  of  Pelagius, 
rests  on  the  same  principle  ;  and  is  stronger,  in  proportion  as  the  difficulty  of 
supposing  an  unresisted,  universally  forgotten  change  in  six  or  eight  funda- 
mental points  of  doctrine,  is  greater  than  the  supposition  of  such  a  change  in 
a  single  doctrine.  This  argument,  which  I  hope  the  reviewer  will  now  be 
-able  to  imderstand,  he  attempts  to  set  aside  by  direct  historical  testimony.  It 
is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  he  relies  on  the  testimony  of  eight  men  of  dif- 
ferent centuries,  and  different  countries,  and  which,  if  it  were  relevant  and 
unimpeached,  would  be  only  the  testimony  of  eight  men  in  opposition  to  the 
testimony  of  two  thousand  in  the  case  of  Arius,  and  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  in  the  case  of  Pelagius.  It  is  amusing,  however,  to  observe  the  confi- 
dence with  which  the  reviewer  relies  on  testimony  which  he  has  himself  first 
totally  invalidated.  He  says,  p.  16,  "All  who  are  acquainted  with  this  sub- 
ject, (the  testimony  of  the  primitive  chui'ch,)  know  it  to  be  embarrassed  by 
difficulties  which  make  it  unwise  to  place  much  dependance  on  arguments 
derived  from  thence,"  and,  "  We  doubt  whether  any  disputed  point  was  ever 
satisfactorily  settled  by  an  appeal  to  antiquity."  And  yet,  relying  on  this  veiy 
testimony,  he  says,  "  We  do  maintain  and  mean  t.T  prove  that  the  primitive 
church  was  decidedly  anti-calvinistic ;"  that  is,  he  means  to  settle  a  point  by 
evidence,  which  never  yet  did  settle  any  point,  and  which  by  all  who  under- 
stand it,  is  regarded  as  unworthy  of  much  confidence.     Again  :  "  Many  Uni- 

45 


350 

tarians,  either  from  not  possessing;  sufficient  information,  or  feeling  sufficient 
interest  on  the  subject,  seem  half  inclined  tacitly  to  admit  the  claim  of  the 
Orthodox,  that  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  primitive  church  is  in  their  favor ;" 
that  is,  other  Unitarians  beside  himself,  have  thought  that  there  is  no  evidence 
to  iirove  the  anti-calvinisra  of  the  primitive  church,  upon  which  any  who 
understand  it,  will  place  much  reliance. 

Once  more  ;  "  We  are  far  from  pretending  that  no  passages  can  he  produ- 
ced from  the  early  fathers  irreconcilable  with  our  principles,  for  we  are  far 
from  believing  that  these  men  can  always  be  reconciled  with  the  Scriptures, 
or  with  one  another,  or  even  with  themselves."  That  is,  these  witnesses, 
whose  testimony  is  to  prove  the  decided  anti-calvinism  of  the  primitive 
church,  have  testified,  it  seems,  on  the  Calvinistic  side  also — have  said  things 
irreconcilable  with  Unitarian  principles.  Now  where  the  evidence  against 
us  lies,  from  witnesses  who  testify  on  both  sides,  we  do  not  exactly  see,  un- 
less it  be  that  on  this  account  a  strong  presumption  arises  that  they  must 
have  been  Unitarians.  "  They  cannot  alv/ays  be  reconciled  with  the  Scrip- 
tures." But  the  Scriptures  I  hope  will  be  allowed  to  contain  the  faith  de- 
livered to  the  saints,  though  some  of  the  primitive  fathers  should  have  taught 
for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men.  But,  "  they  cannot  be  recon- 
ciled with  one  another."  Now,  in  oldsn  time  it  was  thought  to  be  neces- 
sary that  witnesses  should  agree  in  their  testimony.  But  these  witnesses  of 
the  reviewer,  if  we  are  to  believe  him,  come  into  court,  contradicting  the 
Bible  and  one  another,  and  yet  prove  the  decided  anti-calvinism  of  the  primi- 
tive church.  Finally  they  contradict  themselves.  That  is,  as  the  Calvinistic 
and  anti-calvinistic  systems  are  opposites,  and  there  is  no  medium,  they 
taught  Calvinism  sometimes,  and  sometimes  anti-calvinism.  But  no  matter; 
their  Calvinistic  testimony  is  just  good  for  nothing,  and  their  anti-calvinistic 
testimony  proves,  decidedly,  the  anti-calvinism  of  the  entire  primitive  church. 
If  the  reviewer  does  in  reality  believe  that  the  testimony  of  the  eaily  fathers 
proves  the  decided  anti-calvinism  of  the  primitive  church,  he  is  a  man  of  the 
strangest  humour  that  I  have  ever  known  :  for  he  has  treated  the  fatliers 
exactly  as  he  has  treated  mo, — claimed  them  as  anti-calvinists,  and  abused 
them  as  if  he  had  believed  them  to  be  Calvinists, — claimed  them  as  his  own 
witnesses,  and  treated  them  just  as  ifh^  feared  their  testimony,  and  had  made 
his  calculation  chiefly  on  breaking  its  force.  I  hope  it  will  be  perceived  that 
these  fathers  are  not  my  witnesses,  and  that  destroying  their  credibility  does 
not  aflect  at  all  the  credibility  of  those  on  whose  testimony  I  rely.  My  argu- 
ment stands  on  the  ground,  that  the  implied  testimony  of  two  thousand  men, 
to  a  matter  of  fact,  of  which  they  could  not  be  ignorant,  and  to  which  they 
could  not  testify  falsely  without  violating  all  the  known  laws  of  the  human 
mind,  and  destroying  totally  the  credibility  of  human  testimony,  is  to  be  regard- 
ed as  decisive  evidence,  that  the  primitive  church  was  not  anti-calvinistic ; 
and  was,  at  least  in  the  sense  which  I  have  explained,  evangelical. 

1  shall  not  myself  enter  the  field  of  direct  historical  evidence  ;  not  because 
I  fear  the  result,  but  because  it  does  not  suit  the  nature  of  my  argument.  All 
which  it  is  incumbent  on  me  to  do  is,  to  examine  the  evidence  employed  to  set 
aside  my  argimient,  on  which  the  reviewer  places  so  much,  and  so  little  reli- 
ance, in  order  to  ascertain  if  possible,  in  which  of  his  opinions  on  the  sub- 
ject it  becomes  him  and  the  public  to  rest. 

To  prove  the  decided  anti-calvinism  of  the  whole  primitive  chmxh  by  quo- 
tations from  the  early  fathers,  the  following  things  are  necessary. 

1st.  Their  testimony  must  contradict,  at  least,  some  one  doctrine  which 
belongs  to  the  system  as  understood  by  all  Calvinists. 

2d.  It  must  contradict  such,  and  so  many  doctrines  of  Calvinism,  as  amounts 
to  its  subversion.  A  man  may  deny  some  one  or  two  doctrines  which  belong 
to  the  system,  and  yet,  receiving  all  the  rest,  maybe  substantially,  a  Calvinist. 

3d.  The  testimony  of  the  fathers  nnist  contradict,  not  merely  such  state- 
ments of  Calvinistic  doctrines  as  are  made  by  some  Calvinists,  but  they  must 
contradict  the  generic  principles  of  the  system,  in  which  all  the  diversities  ot 
Calvinists,  as  opposed  to  Unitarians,  or  Arminians,  are  agreed. 


351 

4th.  There  must  be  so  many  who  testify  against  all  the  leading  doctrines  of 
Calvinism,  and  placed  in  such  circumstances,  as  to  time,  and  relation  to  each 
other  and  to  the  whole  church,  as  creates  moral  evidence  that  their  opinions 
were  the  opinions  oi"  the  primitive  church.  Nothing  is  more  common  than 
for  individuals  to  fall  into  some  peculiarities  of  their  own.  Now  the  testimony 
of  the  fathers  must  be  so  circumstanced  as  clearly  to  show,  that  it  is  the  re- 
ceived opinion  of  the  whole  church,  and  not  merely  individual  opinion. 

5th.  The  language  of  (he  witnesses  must  be  such  as  cannot  be  reconciled 
with  the  elementary  principles  of  the  Calvinistic  system,  just  as  naturally  and 
easily,  as  with  the  anti-calvinistic. 

6th.  To  prove  by  the  fathers  the  anti-calvinism  of  the  whole  primitive 
church,  the  langaiage  of  the  fathers  nnist  be  interpreted  with  reference  to  the 
existing  controversies.  It  is  not  enough  that  they  used  terms  which  were 
adopted  in  after  ages,  by  Pelagius  and  Arminius,  to  sanction  ideas  which  the 
fathers  never  held.  Does  not  the  reviewer  know  that  the  early  fathers  asserted 
the  doctrine  of  free  will,  only  in  opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  fate,  as  taught 
by  the  Stoics — of  material  depravity  as  taught  by  the  Gnostics — and  of  mental 
depravity,  as  consisting  in  good  and  evil  compounded  in  the  essence  of  the 
soul  at  its  formation,  as  taught  by  the  Manicheans  ?  When  Justin  Martyr 
therefore,  insists  that  "  man  has  power  by  free  will ;"  and  Irena;us  ^"  that  God 
has  preserved  to  man  a  will,  free  and  in  his  own  power,  not  only  in  works  but 
also  in  faith ;"  and  Tatian  "  that  angels  and  men  are  endowed  with  power 
over  themselves  ;"  and  Origen  "  that  not  a  single  one  is  formed  wicked  by  the 
Creator  of  all  things  ;"  and  Eusebius  "  that  the  origin  and  foundation  of  wick- 
edness is  in  man,  not  from  any  extraneous  necessity,  but  from  free  will  and 
judgment;  that  eveiy  thing  is  good  which  is  according  to  nature,"  (because,) 
"  what  is  wrong  takes  place,  not  according  to  nature,  but  contraiy  to  nature, 
it  being  the  work  of  choice,  not  of  nature ;"  and  Hihuy,  "  that  our  will  ought 
to  have  the  property  that  it  exert  itself;"  and  Theodoie  of  Mopsuestia,  who 
denied  that  men  sin  by  nature,  not  by  choice  ;"  they  are  all  to  be  undei-stood 
as  declaring  the  free  agency  and  accountability  of  man,  in  opposition  to 
the  doctrine  of  fate  as  taught  by  the  Stoics,  and  to  the  doctrine  of  a  material 
depravity  as  taught  by  the  Gnostics,  and  of  a  mental  depravity  considered 
as  a  part  of  the  created  nature  of  the  soul,  as  taught  by  the  Manicheans. 
They  meant  by  free  will,  a  will  free  in  opposition  to  coercion,  and  a  will 
free  in  its  exercises,  in  opposition  to  sin  consisting  in  a  material  nature,  or 
in  a  created  mind,  tohich  is  involuntary  and  sinful  in  its  essence,  by  an 
tmavoidable  necessity. 

Is  the  reviewer  unacquainted  Vi'ith  the  fact,  that  the  doctrine  of  free  will, 
which  was  taught  by  Pelagius,  agrees  in  sound  only  with  the  doctrine  of  free 
will  as  it  was  taught  by  the  fathers.  Pelagius  asserted,  not  merely  the  natu- 
ral freedom  of  the  will,  in  opposition  to  fate,  and  a  material  or  created  de- 
pravity, which  is  all  that  the  fathers  deny,  but  he  taught  a  moral  freedom  of 
the  will  synonymous  with  impartiality  or  unbiassed  integrity.  Pelagius  denied 
that,  in  consequence  of  the  fall,  it  came  to  pass  that  all  men  sin  voluntarily, 
as  soon  as  they  act  accountably  ;  and  asserted,  that  the  will  is  free  from 
any  bias  to  depraved  volition  in  consequence  of  the  sin  of  Adam ;  and  that 
men,  without  the  inlluence  of  special  grace,  ma}%  and  do,  prepare  themselves 
for  heaven.  In  opposition  to  this  unbiassed  state  of  will,  Augustine,  and  Cal- 
vin, and  all  the  reformers,  taught  the  bondage,  or  moral  impolence  of  the  will. 
They  denied,  with  the  fathers,  the  doctrine  of  fate,  and  of  communicated  ma- 
terial, or  concreated  mental  depravity.  But  they  asserted  what  the  fathers 
never  denied,  because  in  their  day  it  was  not  made  a  subject  of  controversy, 
that  though  man  is  a  free  agent,  in  possession  of  all  the  faculties  re(}uisite  to 
accountability,  he  is  nevertheless  in  consequence  of  the  fall,  a  free  agent 
always  biased  to  evil,  and  never  to  good,  but  by  the  special  agency  ofGod. 
Augustine,  Calvin,  and  the  reformers,  do  not  deny  the  free  will  wtiich  the 
fathers  contended  for  ;  and  tlie  fathers  do  not'dcny  the  bondage  and  iiripoten- 
cy  of  the  will  in  the  sense  in  which  Augustine  and  the  reformers  coiitended 
for  it.     On  the  contrary,  when  Pelagius,  under  cover  of  the  language  of  the 


352 

fathers,  brought  up  the  doctrine  of  free  will,  meaning  by  it  to  deny  the  ori- 
ginal and  entire  depravity  of  man,  and  the  consequent  necessity  of  regenera- 
tion by  the  special  influence  of  the  Spirit,  the  whole  church  on  earth  flowed 
together,  to  testify  that  not  such  doctrine  had  ever  been  held  by  the  church. 
If  therefore,  the  language  of  the  fathers  was  apparently  in  opposition  to  the 
technical  language  of  modern  Calvinism,  it  is  language  which  was  used  loosely 
and  in  reference  to  other  controversies,  and  long  before  the  points  at  Issue 
between  Pelagius  and  Augustine  had  been  started,  and  is  not  to  set  aside  tlie 
language  of  delil)erate  precision,  adopted  by  the  whole  church,  the  first 
time  that  heretical  opinions  created  a  necessity  for  careful  and  definite  lan- 
guage. 

My  position  then  is,  that  the  fathers  never  did  assert /ree  will  in  the  sense 
in  which  Pelagius  asserted  it;  and  that  Augustine,  and  the  Reformers,  and 
Calvinists,  never  have  denied  free  will,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  fathers  con- 
tended for  it. 

It  is  in  vain  to  declaim  about  councils  as  they  existed  afterwards,  when 
doctrines  were  settled  by  a  casting  vote,  and  tiie  faith  of  a  nation  changed  in 
a  day,  with  the  faith  of  the  court.  Such  was  not  the  state  of  things  in  the 
council  of  Nice,  and  if  there  were  feuds  and  puerile  contentions  among  the 
ecclesiastics,  this  fact  only  corroborates  the  evidence  of  their  united  suffrage 
concerning  the  divinity  of  Christ,  as  a  matter  of  such  universal  notoriety, 
that  no  minor  difference  could  affect  their  decision  on  that  point ;  and  as  to 
the  condemnation  of  Pelagius,  it  was  produced,  the  reviewer  says,  by  the 
talents,  intrigues,  and  emissaries  of  one  man,  Augustine.  He,  "  when  the 
east  had  declared  for  Pelagius,  when  Rome  was  temporizing,  when  the  voice 
of  all  antiquity  was  decidedly  against  him  in  many  of  his  dogmas,  and  unani- 
mously in  some  of  them,"  was  able  to  overcome  all  opposition,  to  "  impose  on 
the  christian  world  a  system  of  doctrines  that  have  retained  to  a  considerable 
degree,  though  under  diflbrent  modifications,  their  ascendency  to  this  day." 
A  statement  so  certainly  erroneous  in  some  respects,  and  so  utterly  impro- 
bable in  all,  requires  some  proof  in  addition  to  tlie  anonymous  assertion  of 
the  reviewer. 

Equally  in  vain  is  it,  to  attempt  to  break  the  force  of  this  argument  by 
loose  declamation  concerning  the  fathers.  It  may  b.e  admitted  that  they  did 
not  teach  the  Calvinistic  system  with  the  technical  accuracy  of  Augustine  or 
Calvin,  or  of  writers  of  the  present  day.  All  sciences  are  stated  imperfectly 
in  the  beginning,  and  progress  in  amplitude  and  accuracy,  as  time  and  study, 
and  especially  as  controversy,  induce  precision.  The  early  fathers  were  ed- 
ucated in  a  false  philosophy,  which  doubtless  modified,  in  some  degree  their 
statements  of  christian  duties  and  doctrine,  and  modified  them  for  the  worse, 
to  be  corrected  by_  after  generations,  who  should  expound  the  Gospel,  free 
from  the  local  temptations  of  the  fathers.  They  were  not  all  of  them  men  of 
talents,  and  were  all  of  them  comparative  novices  in  theology,  and  the  art  of  cor- 
rect exposition.  That  in  these  circumstances,  they  should  have  taught  Chris- 
tianity with  great  clearness  and  accuracy,  or  imiversal  consistency,  is  not  to 
be  expected.  The  darkness  of  the  world  before  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
arose,  is  affectingly  illustrated  by  Cicero  in  his  treatise  "  De  Natura  Deorum," 
in  which  he  himself  and  all  the  philosophers,  have  the  appearance  of  children, 
attempting  in  vain  to  ascertain  what  there  is  above  the  skies.  Before  the 
true  light  shined,  men  could  not  see  by  reason  of  the  gross  darkness ;  and 
after  it  came,  could  not  see  for  a  time,  by  reason  of  its  excessive  brightness. 
But  though  men  in  the  circumstances  of  the  fathers  may  talk  loosely,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  ascertain  their  real  meaning,  provided  we  understand  their  educa- 
tion, their  philosophy,  and  the  controversies  in  which  they  were  engaged.  All 
these  circumstances,  instead  of  shedding  darkness,  as  the  reviewer  supposes, 
are  so  many  lamps  shedding  light  on  their  page, — so  many  sentinels  clad  in 
ancient  armour,  standing  on  the  same  spot  through  ages,  to  guard  their  real- 
meaning  from  perversion,  and  to  direct  the  translator  to  the  true  import. 

All  which  1  have  claimed,  or  wiiich  my  argument  requires,  is  that  the  prim- 
itive church  Wiis  not  anti-calvinistic,  but  did  embrace  substantially,  theele- 


353 

meutary  principles  of  that  Calvinism,  wliich  I  have  defined  and  described  as 
the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  ;  such  as  the  natural  ability,  free  agency,  and 
accountability  of  man ; — his  entire  voluntary  depravity,  in  some  way  as  a  con- 
sequence of  the  sin  of  Adam ; — the  necessity  of  regeneration  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  trutli,  and  by  the  special  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; — the 
docti-ines  of  the  atonement,  of  justification  by  faith,  and  of  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments according  to  our  deeds.  However  loosely  the  fathers  may  have 
spoken,  or  even  inconsistently,  on  these  doctrines,  when  at  length  they  were 
denied  by  Pelagius,  a  universal  sensation  was  produced,  and  the  whole  church, 
in  circumstances  which  for  the  first  time  demanded  precision,  did  most  pre- 
cisely and  unequivocally  condemn  the  doctrines  of  Arius  and  Pelagius,  and 
establish  those  which  I  have  denominated  evangelical.  Dr.  Beecher  is  not 
required,  therefore,  to  accept  the  challenge  of  "  producing  a  single  respectable 
authority  to  bear  him  out  in  his  assertions,  if  he  means  by  the  doctrines  he 
has  named,  those  doctrines  as  they  are  held  by  Calvinists." — Dr.  Beecher 
has  not  asserted  that  the  Calvinistic  system  was  taught  technically  by  the 
early  fathers,  as  it  has  been  taught  since  controversy  has  reduced  it  to  pre- 
cision and  form.  Nor  has  he  claimed  that  the  doctrines  which  he  has  nam- 
ed were  held  by  the  primitive  church  in  any  sense,  but  that  which  he  has 
himself  defined  and  explained.  That  in  this  sense  they  were  held  by  the 
primitive  church,  the  reviewer  concedes,  by  calling  them  and  the  doctrines 
of  the  primitive  church,  decidedly  anti-cahinistic.  And  no  one  can  read  at- 
tentively the  testimony  of  the  reviewer's  own  \vitnesses,  and  not  perceive 
a  striiiing  coincidence  on  most  points  between  their  doctrine  and  mine. 

Tlie  testimony  of  Calvin,  that  they  taught  theology  with  ambiguities  and 
variations,  is  no  more  than  I  have  conceded,  and  is  surely  no  evidence  of  de- 
.cided  anti-calvinism  ;  and  the  declaration  of  Jansenius  that  "  Augustine  was 
thfB  first  who  taught  christians  the  meaning  of  the  New  Testament,"  only 
confirms  what  I  have  stated, — that  they  did  not  speak  in  a  clear,  methodical, 
and  consistent  manner. 

The  learned  Simon  also,  confirms  the  views  which  I  have  given  of  the 
fathers.  All  antiquity,  he  says,  which  had  opposed  itself  strongly  to  th« 
Gnostics  and  Manicheans,  who  destroyed  the  liberty  of  man,  seemed  to  speak 
in  favor  of  Pelagius  and  his  followers.  If  they  had  not  run  into  the  oppo- 
site extreme,  absolutely  denying  the  necessity  of  internal  grace,  they  might 
have  hoasted  of  having  tradition  on  their  side  ;  that  is,  if  Pelagius  had  assert- 
ted  only  the  natural  freedom  and  ability  of  the  will,  such  as  constitutes  free 
agency  and  accountability,  he  would  have  had  the  fathers  on  his  side ;  but  in 
asserting  the  moral  ability  of  the  will,  as  wholly  unbiassed  towards  evil,  and 
denying  the  necessity  of  regeneration  by  internal  grace,  he  went  in  opposition 
to  the  testimony  of  antiquity. 

Beausobre  also  explains  the  matter,  to  some  extent,  as  I  have  done.  He 
says  that  the  fathers  believed,  and  maintained  against  the  Manicheans,  that 
whatever  state  man  is  in,  he  has  the  command  over  his  own  actions.  That 
Augustine  taught  the  same  till  he  came  to  dispute  with  Pelagius,  when  he 
changed  sides,  and  as  he  thinks,  denied  the  kind  of  freedom  which  he  had 
before  defended ;  that  is,  Augustine  contended  for  the  natural  liberty  and 
ability  of  the  will,  against  the  Gnostics  and  Manicheans,  and  against  Pelagius, 
he  contended  for  the  moral  inability  of  the  will  by  reason  of  sin,  and  this, 
with  Beausobre,  is  changing  his  former  opinion.  But  Beausobre  is  not  the 
only  man  who  has  been  unable  to  perceive  any  diflerence  between  a  natural 
involuntary  depravity,  and  one  which  consists  wholly  in  the  perverse  volun- 
tary exercises  of  a  being  who  is  a  free  agent,  and  a  proper  subject  of  moral 
government.  Augusti^ce  did  not  change  his  opinions.  The  meaning 
of  the  term  "free  will"  changed  in  his  controversy  Avith  Pelagius,  so  that  he 
now  denies  in  one  sense,  the  "  free  will "  which  he  had  contended  for,  and  still 
admitted,  in  another  sense. 


354 

NO.  V. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Christian  Examiner. 

The  eleventh  and  last  evasion  respects  the  moral  tendency  of  the  two  sys- 
tems ;  that  is,  their  actual  efficacy  in  producing  a  pure  and  strict  morality. 
My  argument  is,  that  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints  produced  a  morality  of 
peculiar  purity  and  strictness  ;  that  the  evangelical  systi^m  produces  a  morality 
of  similar  purity  and  strictness,  sui'passing  the  morality  produced  by  the  liberal 
system  \  and  that  therefore,  the  evangeUcal  system  is  the  faith  delivered  to  the 
saints,  and  the  liberal  system  is  not. 

To  this  the  reviewer  replies,  that  "  Unitarians  have  always  felt  and  expres- 
sed a  reluctance  to  enter  upon  this  discussion." 

1.  Because  of  its  liabiUty  to  lead  '  to  uncandid  and  unchristian  remarks.' 

2.  Because  '  it  is  less  likely  than  any  other,  to  advance  the  interests  of 
truth.' 

3.  '  Its  only  probable  effect  upon  the  adverse  party  is  to  'exasperate  their 
feelings,  and  rivet  their  prejudices ;  or  at  best,  to  inflict  on  them  a  deep  sense 
of  intentional  injury.' 

4.  '  Its  only  influence  on  the  party  whom  it  favors,  is  to  confirm  them 
still  more  in  the  vicious  habit  of  trusting  in  themselves  that  they  ai'e  right- 
eous and  despising  others.' 

5.  '  When  however,  they  have  been  dared  to  it,  and  provoked  to  it  by  their 
adversaries,  and  it  has  become  necessary  in  justice  to  their  own  characters, 
and  in  justice  to  that  cause  which  they  believe  to  be  the  cause  of  tiuth  and 
the  cause  of  God,  to  enter  into  this  comparison,  they  never  have  yet,  and  they 
never  will  shrink  from  the  trial.' 

I  am  persuaded  the  reviewer  has  not  spoken  even  with  his  "  usual  accu- 
racy," in  saying  that  Unitarians  have  always  felt  and  expressed  a  reluctance 
to  enter  upon  this  subject,  and  that  his  brethren  will  by  no  means  thank  him 
for  such  a  concession.  Have  not  Unitarians  insisted  upon  the  unworthy,  and 
even  blasphemous  conceptions  of  the  divine  character  and  conduct  which  are 
entertained  by  the  Orthodox  ; — that  our  doctrines  are  irrational,  absurd,  con- 
tradictoiy ;  and  in  their  tendency,  melancholy,  and  morose,  and  austere,  and 
severe  ;  that  they  paralyze  effort,  produce  spiritual  pride,  and  encourage  men 
to  calculate.upon  impunity  in  sin  ?  And  is  it  not  a  standing  argument  in  favor 
of  the  Unitarian  system,  that  it  dispels  all  these  Calvinistic  clouds  which  have 
been  gathered  about  the  character  of  the  Deity,  and  brings  out  the  glorious 
sun  in  all  his  lovehness,  to  smile  on,  and  to  cheer  the  earth,  and  to  quicken 
spiritual  vegetation  ? 

If  Unitarians  have  not  and  do  not  insist  on  the  superior  moral  efficacy  of 
their  system,  they  have  thrown  out  a  multitude  of  words  very  incautiously, 
and  kept  the  world  very  much  in  ignorance  of  their  views  to  this  day.  If  all 
they  have  meant  to  say,  has  been  only  to  afsert  the  superior  theoretical  adap- 
tation of  their  doctrines  to  produce  a  pure  and  strict  morality,  as  the  reviewer 
has  asserted  their  untried  eiiicacy  to  produce  revivals  and  missionary  ellbrt, 
tlien  no  wonder  that  they  have  always  felt  and  expressed  a  reluctance  to 
agitate  the  question  of  the  actual,  comparative  efficacy  of  the  two  systems, 
in  producing  a  pure  and  strict  morality.  But  if  they  have  intended  to  claim, 
and  do  in  reality  believe,  that  their  views  of  doctrine  do  produce,  in  fact,  the 
purest  and  strictest  morality,  they  are  the  strangest  logicians  I  have  ever  met 
with,  or  read  of, — to  be  reluctant  to  approach  the  strongest  ground  of  argu- 
ment which  men  can  possibly  possess.  And  yet  this  impregnable  fortress, 
whose  first  fire,  if  they  have  got  the  munition  of  moral  effects,  would  silence 
Orthodoxy  forever,  they  approach,  the  reviewer  says,  "  reluctantly  ;"  and 
only  to  save  their  honor,  and  show  their  courage,  when  they  are  ])ricked  and 
pushed  up  to  it  by  Orthodox  bayonets.  Doubtless,  the  reviewer  is  mistaken 
in  respect  to  his  brethren  ;  Ibr  why  should  Unitarians  be  reluctant  to  investi- 
gate the  moral  effect  of  tlie  two  systems  ?  Are  they  not  candid,  sincere,  and 
in  earnest,  in  their  search  after  tnith  ?     Is  not  practical  tendency  the  univer- 


S55 

sal  mode  of  common  sense,  judging  on  all  subjects  ?  Do  farmers  buy  for  use, 
patents,  on  account  of  their  theoretical  excellence  ;  and  should  two  machines 
be  offered  to  thd  public  for  the  same  use,  and  one  should  court,  and  the  other 
always  deprecate  a  reference  to  experiment,  which  would  the  farmers  buy  ? 
I  would-  ask  whether  practical  effect  is  not  the  rule  of  trial  which  the  Bible 
has  instituted  :  and  whether  Unitarians  do  not  know  this,  and  resort  to  it  ? 
When  the  Orthodox  speak  of  the  importance  of  doctrine,  do  they  not  hear  in 
reply,  about  metaphysical  subtleties  and  speculative  opinions  of  no  practical 
utility  ?  And  are  they  not  told  with  exultation,  "  By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know 
tliem  ;" — that  it  is  not  what  men  think,  but  what  they  do,  which  decides  their 
character  ;  and  that  we  shall  not  be  judged  by  our  creeds,  but  by  our  deeds  ? 

When  we  appeal  to  revivals  of  religion  as  evidence  of  the  truth  of  our  doc- 
trines, we  are  told  about  "  certain  feelings,"  which  it  is  as  easy  to  get  up  in 
"  town  meetings"  as  in  conference  meetings,  and  are  wai'ned  against  enthu- 
siasm, and  referred  to  the  unfailing  test  of  good  works.  "  By  their  fruits  shall 
ye  know  them."  It  is  too  late  in  the  day  for  Unitarians  to  shrink  from  this 
test,  of  divine  appointment,  and  of  their  own  choosing.  And  as  to  those 
effects  which  make  the  reviewer  deprecate  the  comparison,  they  are  only  the 
effects  which  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  produced  on  those  who  rejected  it. 
It  exasperated  those  who  rejected  it,  and  it  divided  families,  and  Ifindled  a  fire 
in  the  world,  which  has  not  gone  out  to  this  day.  And"  as  to  spiritual  pride, 
and  the  "  vicious  habit  of  trusting  in  themselves  that  they  are  righteous,  and 
despising  others,"  it  is  the  charge  which  the  virtuous  heathen  flung  indig- 
nantly back  upon  Christians,  for  presuming  to  think  themselves  so  much  better 
than  others,  that  none  could  be  saved  but  in  their  way.  And  yet,  as  the 
Saviour  directed  the  Gospel  to  be  preached  with  all  these  effects  in  view,  it 
maj-  be  safe  for  us  to  examine  the  effect  of-  the  two  systems,  even  though  the 
same  results  should  follow,  which  follow  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  It  will 
serve,  at  the  same  time,  to  relieve  us  from  the  solicitude  of  possible  mistake, 
could  we  ascertain  on  which  side  the  complaining  is  heard,  and  the  sense  of 
"  intentional  injury"  created. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  universal  knowledge  on  this  subject ;  but,  so  far  as  my 
information  extends,  I  have  heard  no  complaint  from  the  Orthodox,  conceraing 
this  test  of  truth.  The  treatise  of  Andrew  Fuller  on  the  subject,  has  been, 
with  the  Orthodox  in  England  and  in  America,  one  of  the  most  popular  argu- 
mentative works  which  has  ever  been  written.  And  the  sermon  entitled 
"  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saiuts,"  which  was  not  borrowed  from  Fuller, 
though  it  treats  on  the  same  subject,  has  been  regarded  by  the  Orthodox  with 
higher,  and  more  universal  approbation,  than  the  author  had  any  right  to  ex- 
pect. In' the  mortal  affray  of  battle,  we  always  conclude  that  the  most  wounds 
are  received  where  there  is  the  most  outcry  ;  and  that  they  who  are  tirst  to 
denounce  a  particular  mode  of  warfare,  are  they  who  have  received  most 
harm  from  it.  Indeed,  the  reviewer  seems  plainly  to  intimate,  that  the  bal- 
ance of  gain  from  the  argument  is  on  our  side,  and  tlie  '  sense  of  intentional 
injury,'  on  the  side  of  Unitarians  ;  for,  not  to  refer  to  the  reluctance  with 
which  he  comes  to  the  comparison  of  moral  effects,  he  has  these  remarkable 
words,  which,  as  heretofore  used  by  Unitarians,  seem  to  characterize  none 
but  the  Orthodox  ;  "  While  its  only  influence  on  the  party  whom  it  favors,  is 
to  confirm  them  still  more  in  the  vicious  habit  of  trusting  in  themselves,  that 
they  are  righteous,  and  despising  others."  Now  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  sup- 
pose that  the  reviewer  meant  to  charge  on  Unitarians  this  "  vicious  habit  of 
trusting  in  themselves,  and  despising  others,"  however  just  the  charge  might 
have  been,  in  opposition  to  the  technicalities  of  the  invective  which  they  cast 
upon  the  Orthodox.  It  is  fairly  to  be  claimed,  therefore,  that  the  Orthodox 
were  intended  in  this  passage,  and  yet  we  can  hardly  credit  our  ej'es  when 
we  read  the  implied  concession,  that  the  Orthodox  are  the  party  whom  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  moral  influence  of  tlie  two  systems  favors,  and  favors  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  make  Unitarians  unwilling  to  resort  to  it ;  and  for  this, 
among  other  reasons — lest  the  Orthodox  should  injure  themselves  by  tlie  in- 


356 

crease  of  their  "  vicious  habit  of  trusting  in  themselves  that  they  are  righteous, 
and  despising  others." 

I  have  no  objection  to  the  statement  of  the  question  by  the  editor  of  the 
Baltimore  Miscellany ;  "  not  whicli  party  is  perfect,  but  which  is  most  defec- 
tive, in  consequence  of  its  faith  ;"  though  I  cannot  subscribe  to  his  insinua- 
tion, that  "  the  party  whose  morality  is  the  most  pure  and  strict,"  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  "  pointing  at,  and  denouncing  and  condemning  all  the  rest."  I  have 
yet  to  learn  that  a  candid  statement  of  facts  cannot  be  made  without  invidious 
intent ;  or  that  a  man  can  by  no  means  perceive  that  his  morality  is  more 
strict  than  that  of  bis  neighbour's,  without  denouncing  his  neighbour,  and 
setting  up  himself  as  a  vain  glorious  boaster.  In  the  attempt  to  ascertain  the 
comparative  strictness  of  the  morality  produced  by  the  evangelical  and  the 
liberal  system,  I  waived  the  comparison  of  individual  character,  and  looked, 
for  their  relative  tendency,  "  to  communities  where  the  two  systems  have 
been  most  unmingled,  and  of  the  longest  duration,"  and  to  those  "  obvious 
changes  which  may  have  appeared,  as  one  or  the  other  system  has  pre- 
vailed." As  evidence  in  favor  of  the  superior  strictness  of  evangelical  mo- 
rality, I  quoted  a  concession  from  the  British  Encyclopaedia,  written,  as  it  is 
said,  by  an  infidel,  and  the  concessions  of  Dr.  Priestley,  and  of  the  Edinburgh 
Review,  which  give  the  preference  in  point  of  strictness  decidedly  to  evan- 
gelical morality.  Of  these  facts,  notorious  without  concession,  the  reviewer 
takes  no  notice — does  not  deny  them,  and  makes  no  attempt  to  reconcile 
them  with  the  supposition,  that  the  liberal  system  is  the  faith  delivered  to 
the  saints. 

Now  when  natural  philosophers  differ  in  theory,  and  facts  are  adduced  by 
one  in  confirmation  of  bis  opinions,  an  obligation  is  supposed  to  be  laid  on  tlie 
other  to  account  for  these  facts  in  accordance  with  his  theory ;  and  the  philoso- 
pher who  makes  no  reply  to  matters  of  fact,  and  makes  no  attempt  to  account 
for  them  upon  his  own  system,  is  supposed  to  be  vanquished,  and  to  be  con- 
scious that  he  is  vanquished.  The  rule  is  certainly  fair  in  natural  science,  and 
why  it  should  not  be  applied  to  moral  subjects,  is  more  than  I  can  perceive. 
It  is  a  hopeless  case  to  adduce  facts  in  evidence,  if  all  an  opponent  has  to  do, 
is  to  pass  them  over  in  silence,  or  to  make  a  diversion  to  draw  away  the  atten- 
tion of  the  unwaiy.  I  call  on  the  reviewer  as  a  philosopher,  as  a  professing 
christian,  and  as  a  professed  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  take  notice 
of  the  facts  which  I  have  adduced  to  prove  the  superior  strictness  of  the 
morahty  produced  in  communities  by  evangelical  doctrines,  to  that  produced 
by  the  liberal  system.  Instead  of  doing  this,  he  evades  my  argument  by  re- 
plying to  it  as  if  I  had  attempted  to  compare  Unitarian  nations  ivith  Evan- 
gelical nations,  and  says,  "Unfortunately  Unitarianism  has  never  yet  pre- 
vailed in  any  country,  and  therefore  the  comparison  cannot  be  made."  But 
I  have  made  no  such  comparison  of  nations  of  Unitarians  and  of  Calvin- 
ists.  It  is  communities — bodies  of  men,  among  whoiri^the  two  systems  have 
most  prevailed,  or  where  one  or  the  other  has  prevailed  alternately,  that  I 
speak;  and  by  '  prevail,'  I  do  not  mean  prevail  exclusively,  but  where  they 
exist,  and  exert  their  moral  power  on  masses  of  men  sufficiently  large  to  dis- 
close in  their  effects,  their  relative  moral  tendencies.  And  is  there  no  possi- 
bility of  finding  enoucih  of  Unitarianism  on  the  globe,  in  any  period  of  time, 
to  furnish  an  opportunity  of  comparing  its  effects  on  society  with  the  effects 
of  Orthodoxy  ?  Truly,  the  witnesses  must  have  prophesied  in  sackclotli  more 
than  twelve  hundred  years,  if  this  be  so,  and  Unitarianism  is  the  faith  deliv- 
ered to  the  saints. 

But  why  does  the  reviewer  evade  facts  of  universal  notoriety  ?  Is  not  the 
anti-cahinistic  system  the  faith  of  Unitarians,  so  far  as  opposition  to  Calvinism 
is  concerned  ?  And  has  there  been  no  prevalence  of  the  Calvinistic,  and  anti- 
calvinistic  systems,  not  even  in  nations,  sufficient  to  discover  their  compara- 
tive moral  tendencies  ?  Are  all  the  energies  of  Unitarian  anti-calvinism  a 
matter  of  theoretical  tendency  to  this  day.'  Has  it  prevailed  so  little,  and 
done  so  Uttle,  that  no  one  can  decide  upon  its  mo^-al  tendencies,  compared 
with  Calvinism  ? 


357 

We  are  favored  however,  at  last,  watli  two  or  three  facts.  First,  that  in 
almost  every  instance  in  wliich  an  uncommon  looseness  of  principle  and  prof- 
ligacy of  morals  have  come  in  upon  a  nation,  (as  in  the  reii2;n  of  Charles  II. 
in  England,)  it  has  plainly  been  owing  to  the  reaction  occasioned  in  the  pub- 
lic mind  by  the  previous  ascendancy  of  high  Calvinism."  But  docs  not  the 
reviewer  know  that  two  thousand  evangelical  ministers  were  ejected  by 
Charles  II.  in  one  day,  nearly  all  the  evangelical  ministers  who  belonged  to 
the  church  of  England,  and  that  all  their  places  were  left  vacant,  or  supplied 
by  anti-calvinists  .'  And  is  it  not  a  singular  mode  of  disproving  the  superior 
moral  tendency  of  Calvinism,  to  quote  a  fact  which  shows,  that  while  Calvin- 
istic  ministers  remained  in  the  church,  the  morality  was  so  strict,  that  when 
they  were  turned  out,  the  wicked  clapped  their  hands  and  held  a  jubilee,  fol- 
lowed by  the  most  profligate  state  of  morals  that  England  ever  saw  ?  If  we 
were  contending  whether  the  strictness  of  Calvinistic  morality  did  not  occa- 
sion such  reaction,  the  fact  might  be  relevant,  though  the  argument  would  lie 
equally  against  the  Gospel.  But  my  argument  turns  on  the  simple  fact, — 
which  sj-stem  actually  produces  the  strictest  moralit\\  I  did  not  doubt  that, 
on  this  subject,  the  reviewer  would  be  sorely  "hit by  the  archers;"  but  I  did 
not  expect  that,  like  Saul  upon  Gilboa,  he  would  be  driven  to  desperation,  and 
fall  upon  the  point  of  his  own  sword. 

But  it  is  the  reviewer's  own  statement,  that  when  Calvinistic  ministers 
were  turned  out  of  the  English  church,  and  anti-calvinists  came  in,  an  un- 
paralleled scene  of  licentiousness  and  irreligiou  ensued.  I  do  not  propose  to 
volunteer  in  adducing  much  additional  proof  at  this  time.  I  would  simply  caU 
the  attention  of  the  reviewer  to  the  following  facts,  and  ask  him  to  account  for 
them  : 

1.  That  the  morality  of  Scotland,  where  evangelical  ministers  continued  in 
the  church,  should  remain  comparatively  unaffected,  while  so  great  a  declen- 
sion in  morals  took  place  in  England,  immediately  after  the  evangelical  minis- 
ters were  driven  out. 

2.  How  it  should  come  to  pass,  that  the  evangelical  dissenters  from  the 
church  of  England,  should,  as  a  body,  have  been  persons  of  a  stricter  morality 
than  the  members  of  the  established  church. 

3.  How  it  should  happen  that  the  two  thousand  evangelical  ministers  in  the 
established  church,  and  the  people  who  attend  their  ministrations,  should  be 
confessedly  the  most  sober  and  strict  part  of  the  Enghsh  church. 

4.  Dignitaries  of  the  church  of  England  have  declared,  that  the  decline  of 
evangelical  preaching  in  the  church  has  been  followed  by  the  decline  of  reli- 
gion, and  the  increase  of  infidelity. 

Again,  the  reviewer  says,  "  It  is  not  a  little  difficult  to  reconcile  with  Dr. 
Beecher's  conclusions,"  (as  if  I  had  merely  reasoned,  without  appealing  to  mat- 
ters of  fact,)  "that  in  our  own  country,  where  alone  Unitarianisrh  has  had  a 
chance  of  prevailing,  it  has  prevailed  most  in  that  section  of  it,  most  remarka- 
ble for  the  principles,  habits,  and  institutions,  which  distinguish  a  moral  and 
religious  community." 

I  did  not  forbear  a  more  local  comparison  of  the  moral  tendency  of  the  two 
systems,  because  I  did  not  perceive  materials  nearer  home,  as  much  to  my 
purpose  as  those  I  selected  ;  nor  because  I  was  afraid  to  push  the  comparison 
to  the  very  heart  of  the  enemy's  camp.  I  suppose  however,  that  for  once, 
enough  had  been  said,  and  that  a  voluntary  analysis  of  the  subject  in  Boston 
and  its  vicinity,  might,  as  the  reviewer  says,  have  the  effect  on  the  adverse 
party,  "  to  exasperate  feeling  and  rivet  prejudices,  and  inflict  a  deep  sense  of 
intentional  injury  ;"  and  as  much  as  the  reviewer  deprecates  an  appeal  to 
moral  tendencies,  I  did  not  doubt  but  the  first  reply  to  this  argument  would 
summon  me  to  Boston  in  self  defence.  I  have  received  the  summons  and 
have  come,  and  shall  defend  my  argiunent  unsparingly,  with  such  materials  as 
the  theati'e  of  comparison  selected  by  the  reviewer  may  afford, — "  the  only 
region  where  Unitarianism  has  had  a  chance  of  prevailing." 

I  would  ask  the  reviewer,  then,  whether  it  i-;  enough  for  his  argument, 
simply  in  five  lines  to  allude  to  the  Unitarian  part  of  Massachusetts,  as  re- 

46 


358 

markable  for  the  principles,  and  habits,  and  institutions,  which  distmguish  a 
tnoral  and  religious  community  ?  Would  it  not  have  been  as  well  to  prove  that 
all  these  good  things  did  not  exist  before  Unitarianism  existed,  when  Ortho- 
doxy was  universal ;  or  that  morality  and  religion  had  materially  improved  in 
proportion  as  Orthodoxy  had  declined,  and  Unitarianism  prevailed  ?  Ortho- 
doxy had  prevailed  in  that  region  for  two  hundred  years,  and  Unitarianism 
had  been  gradually  increasing,  reinforced  by  old  Arminianism,  for  sixty  or 
seventy  years,  though  it  is  but  about  twenty  years  since  it  has  been  generally 
avowed,  and  openly  preached. 

Now,  as  moral  causes  operate  slowly  on  communities,  and  habits  hold  on 
their  course  long  after  the  causes  which  formed  them  have  ceased,  I  am  quite 
disposed  to  claim,  as  the  effects  of  Orthodoxy,  those  habits  and  institutions  of 
Boston  and  the  region  round  about ;  and  to  deny  that  Unitarianism,  half  con- 
cealed and  half  preached  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  has  produced  the  moral 
habits  which  distinguish  the  capital  of  Massachusetts.  The  present  state  of 
things  in  the  Unitarian  part  of  Massachusetts  may  be  accounted  for,  if  Ortho- 
doxy is  what  my  argument  claims,  powerful  in  its  purifying  influence,  and 
Unitarianism  relaxing  in  its  moral  tendencies.  This  morality  may  be  the 
effect  of  Orthodoxy  operating  for  two  hundred  years,  and  may  remain  in  spite 
of  the  deleterious  tendency  of  a  partial  Unitarianism,  counteracted  by  the 
powerful  energy  of  existing,  as  well  as  of  past  Orthodoxy. 

From  another  quarter,  however,  I  am  summoned  to  Boston  in  tones  of  impe- 
rious earnestness.  In  my  sermon  I  have  said  that  the  "  irreligious,  immoral, 
and  profligate  part  of  the  community  prefer  the  liberal  system,  and  are  vehe- 
mently opposed  to  the  evangelical ;"  and  Dr.  Miller,  in  his  ordination  sermon 
at  Baltimore,  says,  "  that  all  over  the  world,  the  gay,  the  fashionable,  the 
worldly  minded,  and  even  the  Ucentious,  prefer  those  preachers  who  deny  the 
divinity  and  atonement  of  the  Saviour,  and  who  reject  the  doctrines  of  hu- 
man depravity,  of  regeneration,  and  of  justification  by  the  righteousness  of 
Christ."  His  statement  and  mine  are,  substantially,  the  same.  But  this 
statement  of  Dr.  Miller,  the  editor  of  the  Baltimore  Miscellany  considers  as 
charging  the  whole  body  of  Unitarians  all  over  the  world,  with  irreligion 
and  immorality,  as  impeaching  the  morals  of  the  whole  body  of  Unitarians, 
as  affixing  a  stigma,  and  passing  a  sentence  of  reprobation  upon  the 
WHOLE  SECT.  And  in  this  view  of  the  matter,  he  says  to  Dr.  Miller,  "  Let 
me  call  your  attention  particularly  to  that  part  of  the  country  where  Unita- 
rian principles  have  been  long  prevalent,  and  where  they  are  embraced  by  a 
very  large  part  of  the  community.  Are  you  prepared  to  charge  the  people  of 
Boston  and  its  vicinity,  with  a  higher  degree  of  immorality  and  depravity  of 
manners,  than  is  found  in  other  cities  ?  Are  you  prepared  to  say  that  the 
churches  in  that  place  are,  more  than  in  any  other,  filled  with  '  the  gay,  the 
fashionable,  the  worldly-minded,  and  the  licentious  ?'  In  Boston,  if  any  where, 
may  be  found  a  proof  of  your  assertions,  because  in  that  place,  the  Unitarians 
probably  make  the  most  numerous  class  of  society.  But  dare  you  come 
before  the  public  with  any  attempt  to  exhibit  such  proof.'  You  dare  not. 
You  dare  not  assail  the  moral  character  of  a  gieat  number  of  the  leading  and 
most  respectable  members  of  society." 

Since  the  publication  of  my  sermon,  these  letters  of  the  editor  to  Dr.  Mil- 
ler, have  been  revised  and  published  as  containing  whatever  may  be  needful 
on  the  subject  of  the  moral  tendency  of  the  Orthodox  and  the  Unitarian  sys- 
tems :  of  course,  all  the  preceding  charges  and  challenges  are  as  much  levelled 
at  me,  as  at  Dr.  Miller.  I  shall  therefore  bestow  a  few  remarks  upon  them  be- 
fore I  proceed.  I  would  observe  then,  that  the  editor  puts  a  false  construction 
on  Dr.  Miller's  language,  and  of  course  on  mine.  We  do  not  say  that  Unitari- 
ans, as  a  body,  are  irreligious,  voluptuous,  or  vicious.  Such  characters  exist 
in  all  communities ;  and  what  we  say  is,  that  eveiy  where,  "  all  over  the 
world,"  such  characters  prefer  the  Unitarian  doctrines  to  evangelical  doctrines, 
which,  considering  that  the  Bible  says  the  righteous  love  the  truth,  and  the 
wicked  hate  it,  is  no  very  good  sign  that  Unitarian  doctrines  are  the  truth. 
We  then  have  made  no  charges  of  irreligion,  immorality,  or  voluptuousness. 


359 

upon  Unitarians  as  a  body-  If  I  were  to  say  that  certain  plays  are  of  a  loose 
and  immoral  tendency,  and  should  adduce,  in  proof  of  my  assertion,  the  fact 
that  they  were  most  applauded,  all  over  the  world,  by  the  profligate  part  of 
the  audience  who  attend  theatres,  should  1  be  understood  to  charge  all  who 
attend  theatres  with  profligacy?  I  would  remind  the  editor,  that  persecution, 
like  fame,  is  very  useful  to  a  rehgious  sect  when  it  comes  unsought,  but 
wholly  unavailing  when  courted  ;  and  that  it  would  have  been  much  more  to 
his  purpose  to  have  disproved  the  facts  which  Dr.  Miller  and  myself  stated, 
than  to  pervert  their  import,  and  lash  himself  into  a  foam  at  liis  own  misrep- 
resentations. 

I  must  add,  that  it  is  childish  and  ridiculous  to  pretend  that  "  the  leading, 
and  influential,  and  respectable  members"  of  any  religious  community,  are 
personally  and  invidiously  implicated  and  insulted,  by  an  attempt  to  ascertain 
by  facts  the  relative  moral  tendency  on  communities  of  the  systems  of  re- 
ligion under  whose  influence  they  live.  No  two  religious  systems  are  alike 
m  tliQir  moral  influence,  and  no  system  of  religion  is  so  exclusively  pernicious 
in  its  influence,  as  to  corrupt  and  debase  all  who  live  under  its  moral  power. 
There  are  among  pagans,  Mahometans,  papists,  and  all  the  protestant  de- 
nominations of  christians,  some  "  leading  and  respectable  men,"  and  such 
as  some  Unitarians  think  will  undoubtedly  find  their  way  to  heaven.  But  if 
this  were  true,  that  some  respectable  men  of  all  religions  will  be  saved,  are 
ail  religions  equally  efficacious  and  salutaiy,  in  producing  a  strict  morality  on 
that  misceUaneous  mass  of  mankind  which  is  embodied  in  civil  and  religious 
communities?  The  Gospel  produces  the  best  morality  on  the  mass  of  human 
society,  however  constituted  in  respect  to  forms  of  government,  and  if  evan- 
gelical doctrines  produce  the  same  effect  which  the  Gospel  did  on  the  com- 
plex mass  of  human  minds,  and  the  liberal  doctrines  are  invariably  attended 
by  a  more  lax  morality,  all  our  jjrinciples  of  reasoning  from  cause  to  effect  are 
useless,  if  the  evangelical  system  is  not  the  Gospel.  Nor  is  this  comparison 
instituted  and  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  fiom 
any  insensibility  to  the  excellent  institutions  and  excellent  characters  which 
adorn  the  metropolis  of  Massachusetts ;  much  less  for  the  "  vicious  purpose 
of  trusting  in  ourselves  that  we  are  righteous,  and  despising  others."  By  the 
consent  of  all,  our  puritan  fathers  have  reared  the  noblest  institutions  which 
have  ever  blest  this  miserable  world.  Their  wisdom  and  efficacy  are  be- 
coming more  apparent  every  day,  and  are  Jhe  foundation  of  that  hope  which 
now  beams  on  the  world,  of  the  elevation  of  the  family  of  man  to  intelligence, 
and  liberty,  and  holiness.  Religion,  of  all  moral  causes,  has  in  all  periods  of 
time,  been  the  most  powerful  in  modifying  the  condition  of  men ;  and  no  in- 
stitutions under  heaven  ever  rose  and  operated  more  exclusively  under  the 
influence  of  religion  as  the  great  central  power,  than  the  institutions  of  our 
forefathers.  They  came  here  on  purpose  to  try  what  the  religion  of  the 
Bible,  as  they  understood  it,  would  do,  unshackled  by  the  ecclesiastical  des- 
potism of  Europe.  The  result  of  this  experiment  this  whole  nation  feels  in 
her  present  prosperity,  and  in  her  joyful  anticipations.  The  whole  creation 
feels  it,  which  has  groaned  and  travailed  together  in  pain  until  now,  and 
begins  to  rejoice  at  length  in  the  prospect  of  coming  into  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  sons  of  God,  while  all  who  have  held  the  world  in  chains,  and  rioted 
on  the  misery  of  man,  are  filled  with  great  wrath  because  tliey  know  that 
their  time  is  short. 

Now  we  know,  in  all  its  details,  the  practical  course  in  which  this  most 
blessed  experiment,  the  world's  last  hope,  has  been  conducted.  Should  then 
a  set  of  religious  innovators  arise  with  pretensions  to  superior  wisdom,  who 
should  propose  to  take  from  our  great  system  the  central  spring  which  from 
the  beginning  to  this  day  had  produced  its  auspicious  movement,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  substituting  one  of  much  greater  theoretical  excellence,  the  whole 
land  and  the  whole  world  would  say,  let  the  new  spring  be  tried  first ; — and  as 
it  is  in  the  full  tide  of  recent  experiment  in  Boston  and  its  vicinit\-,  let  phi- 
losophers watch  the  results,  with  as  much  eagerness  at  least,  as  they  would 
watch  the  transit  of  Venus,  and  record  the  results  with  as  much  accuracy. 


360 

There  may  be  in  Boston,  for  aught  I  can  tell,  some  few  who  have  so  far  given 
themselves  up  to  the  dominion  of  religious  party  spirit,  as  to  be  past  the 
pewer  of  moral  influence,  either  by  argument  or  by  facts.  But  in  my  judg- 
ment, it  is  a  libel  upon  the  intelligence,  and  liberality  and  conscientious  hon- 
esty of  "  the  leading,  influential,  respectable  members  of  society"  in  Boston 
and  its  vicinity,  to  say  that  they  would  feel  themselves  implicated  by  a  com- 
parison of  the  moral  tendencies  of  the  Evangelical  and  the  Liberal  system, 
upon  the  complex  community  of  Boston  and  its  vicinity. 

That  my  justilication  may  be  seen  at  once,  I  must  add  what  has  been  said 
on  the  same  subject  in  page  225  of  my  sermon. 

"  The  illustration  of  the  argument  from  effects,  must  consist  of  many  par- 
ticulars, and  of  matters  of  fact.  The  argument,  therefore,  can  only  be  stated 
concisely,  without  attempting  to  answer  every  possible  objection.  The  facts, 
too,  may  be  regarded  by  some  as  invidious.  I  have  only  to  say,  that  no  fact 
will  be  stated  as  such,  which  is  not  believed  to  be  notoriously  true,  and,  if 
denied,  capable  of  unequivocal  proof;  and  as  to  the  invidious  bearing  of  mat- 
ters of  fact,  or  of  arguments,  I  am  persuaded  it  is  both  a  false  delicacy 
and  an  unsound  cause  which  would  shrink  from  this  test,  and  shield  itself 
under  forms  of  alleged  decorum.  But  I  must  be  allowed  to  believe  also,  tbat 
no  real  decorum  is  violated  by  the  statement  of  facts,  or  the  pressure  of  argu- 
ments, where  the  object  is  important,  the  design  honest,  and  the  manner  sober 
and  respectful.  Systems  of  religion,  as  well  as  of  natural  philosophy,  may  be 
brought  to  the  test  of  actual  experiment.  '  By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know 
them.'  But  if  the  moral  vvorld  were,  by  the  laws  of  decorum,  closed  against 
us,  and  we  might  only  theorize  without,  upon  practical  tendencies,  and  not 
enter  it  to  collect  and  appeal  to  facts  ;  we  might  contend  earnestly,  but  cer- 
tainly should  contend  to  very  little  purpose.  To  the  word  and  testimony  of 
God,  and  to  matters  of  fact,  we  appeal." 

I  proceed  then  to  inquire  whether  any  changes  have  taken  place  in  Boston 
and  its  vicinitj",  indicating  a  decline  of  moral  sensibility  and  moral  strictness 
in  the  community,  since  Orthodoxy  has  declined,  and  Unitarianism  has  pre- 
vailed. And  if  any  of  my  allusions  or  remarks  shall  give  pain,  I  beg  that  the 
deed  should  be  characterized  only  by  the  occasion  and  the  motive.  Dr. 
Priestley  has  said, — "  I  could  overlook  every  thing  in  a  man  who  i  thought 
meant  nothing  but  my  eternal  welfare."  If  this  is  not  my  motive,  and  if  I 
am  actuated  by  any  other,  my  heart  has  greatly  deceived  me.  Tlie  reviewer 
and  the  editor  will,  therefore,  I  trust,  fortify  themselves  both  with  meekness 
and  with  charity,  while  I  proceed  to  the  inquiry,  whether,  even  in  Boston  and 
its  vicinity,  there  are  not  some  changes  which  have  ha])pened  considerably 
for  the  worse,  since  Orthodoxy  left  the  helm,  and  Unitarianism  took  it.  I 
shall  advert  chiefly  to  those  views,  feelings,  and  habits,  of  our  fathers,  which 
unquestionably,  have  had  the  chief  influence  as  moral  causes,  in  producing  on 
the  community  the  moral  results  of  their  system. 

The  tirst  topic  which  I  shall  introduce  is  tbat  oi  family  relis;ion,  including  ■ 
the  daily  worship  of  God  morning  and  evening,  and  the  religious  instruc- 
tion, and  government  of  children.  It  will  not  be  denied,  that  the  moral 
causes  which  form  the  character,  and  influence  the  conduct  of  men,  are  ap- 
plied more  powerfully  in  the  family  than  in  any  other  form  of  our  social  con- 
dition, and  that  the  system  of  family  discipline  which  makes  thern  best  ac- 
quainted with  the  moral  government  of  God,  is  best  calculated  to  produce  a 
strict  morality.  I  would  ask,  then,  in  which  class  of  the  comnmnity  is  family 
prayer  and  the  religious  instruction  of  children  most  practised  or  neglected  ; 
in  Unitarian,  or  Orthodox  ?  And  if  this  question  be  too  general,  I  would  ask, 
among  which  class  of  the  public  professors  of  religion,  is  family  prayer  most 
extensively  observed,  or  neglected  ?  It  will  not  be  denied,  I  believe,  that  the 
practice  of  family  religion  obtains  most  in  the  families  of  Orthodox  professors, 
and  of  course,  if  morality  is  pure  and  strict  in  projjortion  to  the  fidelity  mani- 
fested in  the  application  of  the  best  means,  in  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances, the  morality  of  Orthodox  communities  will  be  more  strict  and  pure 
than  that  of  Unitarian  communities. 


361 

The  Sabbath  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  mainspring  of  Christianity, 
— the  institution  designed  by  heaven  to  give  practical  influence  to  the  laws  of 
the  divine  moral  government.  Of  course,  as  the  Sabbath  is  strictly  or  loosely 
observed  by  particular  societies  of  men,  the.  moral  influence  of  the  govern- 
ment of  God  will  be  more  or  less  apparent  in  their  life  and  conversation.  I 
would  inquire  then,  whose  views  of  the  proper  mode  of  sanctifying  the  Sab- 
bath, are  best  calculated  to  bring  home  upon  the  conscience  and  heart  of  a 
community  the  moral  influence  of  the  divine  government .'  It  is  a  universal 
law  in  science,  that  application  is  indispensable,  and  that  tliere  is  no  royal 
road  to  eminence  in  literature  :  and  is  not  the  same  maxim  equally  true  on  the 
subject  of  religion  and  morals  ?  Can  men  be  benefitted  by  the  Bible  without 
reading  it,  or  by  the  Sabbath,  but  in  proportion  as  it  is  consecrated  to  religious 
purposes?  Now,  according  to  the  Orthodox  fathers  of  New  England,  the 
Sabbath  is  to  be  sanctified  by  a  "  holy  resting  all  that  day,  even  from  such 
worldly  employments  and  recreations  as  are  lawful  on  other  days,  and  spend- 
ing the  whole  time  in  public  and  private  exercises  of  God's  worship,  except 
so  much  as  is  to  be  taken  up  in  works  of  necessity  and  mercy."  It  is  this  mode 
of  sanctifying  the  Sabbath  which  has  lent  its  influence  to  the  illustrious  reli- 
gious and  moral  results,  which  are  witnessed  in  New  England ;  all  of  which 
do  fade  and  vanish  away,  in  proportion  as  this  mode  of  keeping  the  holy  day 
is  substituted  for  any  other.  Who  then,  regard  this  primitive  mode  of  sancti- 
fying the  Sabbath  with  the  most  reverence,  and  who  pay  to  it  the  most  prac- 
tical homage,  the  Unitarians  or  the  Orthodox  ?  The  Orthodox,  no  doubt,  have 
declined  greatly  from  the  strictness  of  the  fathers ;  but  have  not  Unitarians 
decUned  still  more  ?  Do  they,  as  a  body,  keep  the  Sabbath  as  strictly  as  the 
Orthodox  ? — and  if  this  be  too  indefinite,  I  will  vary  the  question  ;  Do  they 
keep  the  Sabbath  in  a  manner  as  well  calculated  to  make  themselves  and 
their  children  acquainted  with  the  revealed  will  of  God,  and  to  bring  upon 
their  hearts  a  sense  of  accountability,  and  the  moral  influence  of  rewards 
and  punishments,  as  the  Orthodox  ?  Is  it  regarded  as  allowable  to  make  so- 
cial family  visits  on  the  Sabbath,  by  Orthodox,  as  extensively  as  it  is  by  Unita- 
rian families  ?  Has  the  personal  and  oflicial  influence  of  the  Unitarian  part 
of  the  community  been  exerted  as  much  in  favor  of  executing  the  laws 
which  protect  the  Sabbath  from  profanation,  as  in  the  Orthodox  part  of  the 
community  ?  I  do  not  ask  whether  some  Unitarians  may  not  maintain  cor- 
rect views,  and  exemplary  strictness  on  this  subject ;  or  insinuate  that  some 
Orthodox  families  may  not  be  shamefully  lax  both  in  opinion  and  practice. 
It  is  bodies  of  men,  so  large  as  to  form  a  distinctive  character  on  this  point, 
that  my  interrogations  respect. 

The  theatre  has  never,  I  believe,  been  esteemed  and  patronized  by  those 
in  chiistian  communities,  who  belong  to  what  are  called  the  stricter  sort ; 
and  a  very  general  opinion  has  been  entertained  by  mankind,  that  the  theatre 
is  not  favorable  to  a  strict  morality.  Dr.  Witherspoon  has  furnished  me 
with  the  foUowing  facts,  and  observations. 

In  Athens,  where  the  theatre  had  its  birth,  both  tragedy  and  comedy  were 
soon  abolished  by  public  authority.  He  quotes  Aristotle  as  saying,  that 
though  they  brought  tragedy  in  Athens,  to  as  great  perfection  as  the  nature  of 
the  thing  seems  to  admit,  whoever  will  infer  from  this  that  they  improved  in 
their  morals  in  the  same  proportion,  or  by  that  means,  will  fall  into  a  very 
gross  mistake.  In  Rome,  until  the  time  of  Pompey,  theatres  were  not  allowed 
to  stand  above  a  certain  number  of  days.  It  is  certain,  that  the  theatrical  pro- 
fession has  had  a  disgrace  attached  to  it,  from  the  earliest  times,  and  in  all  the 
countries  where  theatres  have  been  in  use.  Public  actors  on  the  stage  were 
accounted  infomous  by  the  Roman  law.  Theatrical  amusements  were  con- 
demned by  the  primitive  church,  and  were  interdicted  by  the  church,  from 
the  time  of  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  to  the  expiration  of  the  French 
Monarchy.  Seneca  speaks  of  theatres  as  most  pernicious  in  their  moral 
tendency. — Dr.  Witherspoon  himself  asks,  "  How  few  plays  are  acted  which 
a  modest  woman  can  see,  consistently  with  decency,  in  every  part  !  There 
ai'c  ladies  who  frequent  the  theatre,  who,  if  tliey  were  but  once  entertained 


362 

with  the  same  images  in  a  private  family  with  which  they  are  presented  there, 
v/ould  rise  with  indignation,  and  reckon  their  reputation  ruined,  if  ever  they 
should  return."  I  may  safely  affirm,  that  no  woman  of  reputation,  who  has 
been  ten  times  in  a  play-house,  dares  repeal  in  company  all  tliat  she  has 
heard  there.  Players  are  almost  universally  vicious,  and  of  such  abandoned 
character,  as  might  justly  make  those  who  defend  the  stage  ashamed  of  learn- 
ing virtue  under  such  masters.  Can  men  learn  piety  from  the  profane,  mor- 
tification from  the  sensual,  or  modesty  from  harlots  ?  Within  two  or  three 
years,  I  have  myself  seen  it  declared  in  one  of  the  newspapers  in  Boston, 
that  the  theati-e  was  in  such  a  condition,  that  no  virtuous  man  could  with  pro- 
priety lead  his  wife  or  daughter  thither;  and  in  another  a  protest  was  enter- 
ed against  some  ^Jarticular  play  that  was  getting  up,  in  terms  equally  severe  : 
and  neither  of  these  were  Orthodox  papers.  I  have  never  myself  attended 
a  theatre  ;  but  I  have  been  credibly  informed,  that  a  i)art,  and  no  small  part 
of  the  audience,  in  one  part  of  the  house,  is  composed  of  persons  of  abandoned 
character  ;  and  that  the  doors  and  avenues  to  the  theatre  are  generally  beset  by 
|)ersons  of  both  sexes,  whose  feet,  according  to  the  Bible,  "  go  down  to  death 
— whose  steps  take  hold  on  hell."  I  would  now  simply  inquire,  upon  whom 
in  Boston  the  theatre  relies  chiefly  for  patronage  ?  Who  are  the  families  that 
regard  it  as  an  innocent  and  fashionable  amusement ;  as  a  means  of  refining  the 
taste,  and  as  a  school  of  morals  .'  Who  are  the  fathers,  and  mothers,  and  sons, 
and  daughters,  who  attend  the  theatre  ?  Is  it  the  Orthodox  in  Boston,  who 
chiefly  support  that  institution,  or  the  Unitarian  part  of  the  community  ? 

The  scriptures  are  undoubtedly  very  strict  on  the  subject  of  self-denial  ; 
not  merely  in  respect  to  gross,  palpable  immoralities,  but  in  respect  to  the 
temper  of  the  heart,  and  the  remote  principles  of  action.  There  is  a  course 
of  this  world,  and  a  conformity  to  this  world,  and  a  friendship  of  this  world  ; — 
all  of  which  arc  injurious  to  christian  character.  And  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  being  crucified  to  the  world,  having  our  conversation  in  heaven,  keeping 
the  heart  with  all  diligence,  and  avoiding  the  very  appearance  of  evil;  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  those  whose  Uves  accord  most  nearly  with  these 
directions,  will  lead  lives  of  the  most  pure  and  strict  morality.  I  would  in- 
(juire  then,  which  part  of  the  community  in  Boston  and  its  vicinity,  live  most 
in  accordance  with  the  si)iritual  import  of  these  requirements  .'  I  shall  not 
leave  the  question  so  indelanite.  I  suppose  that  card  parties,  and  late  suppers, 
and  "  the  feast  of  reason,  and  the  flow  of  soul,"  are  not  i-ecognised  in  the 
New  Testament,  among  the  means  of  grace,  or  the  signs  of  grace,  or  the 
specimens  of  christian  vigilance,  and  self  denial,  or  as  a  compliance  with  the 
exhortation  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  evil.  I  would  ask  then,  which  abound 
most  in  such  matters  (of  doubtful  i)ropriety,  to  say  the  least,)  Unitarian  or 
Orthodox  femilies  ?  And  as  real  christians  are  declared  to  be  the  salt  of  the 
earth,  and  the  light  of  the  world,  I  would  inquire,  who  among  professors  of 
religion,  make  and  .frequent  most,  those  parties  of  which  the  card  table  forms 
no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  amusement ;  the  Unitarian  or  the  Orthodox 
j)rofessors  ? — and  in  which  course  the  church  of  Christ  is  hkely  to  afford  the 
most  light,  and  to  produce  in  the  community,  the  strictest  morality  ? 

In  respect  to  f^imily  balls  among  persons  of  wealth  and  rellnement,  though 
it  should  be  admitted  tliat  Job  was  cynical  in  his  insinuations  that  they  are 
the  pastimes  of  voluptuousness,  the  causes  of  irreligion,  and  the  precursors 
of  sudden  destniction,  they  may  at  least  be  carried  to  excess  ;  and  that  com- 
munity in  which  they  are  so,  will  not  claim,  probably,  the  pre-eminence  in 
respect  to  a  pure  and  strict  morality.  And  now,  if  amusements  of  this  de- 
scription are  carried  to  excess  by  any  class  of  the  community  in  Boston,  I 
would  ask  by  which  class  is  this  done  ;  by  the  Orthodox,  or  by  the  Unitarians  ? 
I  have  heard  of  family  balls,  to  celebrate  the  nuptials  of  a  clergyman,  pror 
tracted  through  six  or  eight  evenings,  and  (as  it  is  said,)  by  the  eagerness  of 
family  friends  to  testify,  in  a  suitable  manner,  their  interest  on  the  occasion ; 
and  much  against  the  will  of  the  worthy  man  whose  politeness  obliged  him 
to  attend.  Was  it  in  an  Orthodox  society  in  Boston  that  this  was  done  ?  Is 
there  one  Oi-thodox  society  in  that  city,  which  would  not  have  been  shocked 


363 

at  the  idea  of  balls  in  hoaor  of  the  nuptials  of  their  clergyman  ?  Is  there  one 
Orthodox  society  in  Boston,  in  which  a  clergj-man  could  have  maintained  his 
standing,  after  having  jaelded,  in  such  a  manner,  to  the  indiscreet  wishes  of 
family  friends  ?  I  allude  to  the  subject  with  reluctance,  and  only  because  it  is 
a  fact  which  speaks  volumes  as  to  a  change  of  moral,  and  religious  feelings 
which  Orthodoxy  certainly  did  not  proctuce  ;  and  which,  taken  in  all  its  con- 
nexions, affords  no  very  lavorable  promise  of  exerting  upon  the  community 
at  large,  an  influence  which  shall  rival  Orthodoxy  in  tlie  puiity  and  strictness 
of  christian  morality. 

The  law  of  honor  and  duelling  have  been  justly  regarded  with  abhorrence  in 
New  England,  from  the  beginning.  But  I  have  before  me  a  trial  for  murder, 
held  in  Boston,  Oct.  4,  1S06,  in  which  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  after  at- 
tempting his  defence  on  the  ground  that  the  killing  was  done  in  justitiable 
self  defence,  took  his  client  from  this  ground,  and  placed  him  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  law  of  honor,  and  gave  an  elaborate  defence  of  it.  He  recog- 
nised the  principle,  that  the  municipal  law  is  not  sufficient  to  protect  the  feelings, 
reputation,  and  usefulness  of  the  higher  classes  in  society.  That  these  have 
a  right  to  judge  for  themselves,  when  their  feelings,  reputation,  and  useful- 
ness, require  them  to  take  their  own  protection  and  redress  into  their  own 
hands.  And  he  said,  "  should  I  ever  be  driven  to  that  impassable  point, 
where  degradation  and  disgrace  begin,  may  tiiis  arm  shrink  palsied  from  its 
socket  if  I  fail  to  defend  my  own  honor :"  and  he  thinks,  that  with  sincere 
feelings  of  piety,  a  man  might  raise  the  pistol,  and  call  on  tlie  Father  of 
Mercies  to  direct  the  stroke.  To  this  the  attorney  general  replied,  "  We 
will  not  take  up  the  glove.  Such  declarations  as  are  made  by  the  gentleman 
on  the  other  side,  would  countenance  all  the  duels  that  have  been  fought  in 
the  world,  and  render  unavailing  all  the  laws  that  have  been  enacted  for  the' 
punishment  of  illegal  and  savage  combats.  Is  the  measure  of  a  man's  con- 
duct, when  he  leaps  the  bounds  of  an  established  law,  to  receive  a  standard 
from  the  feelings  of  his  wife  and  children,  or  the  notions  of  honor  in  the  con- 
gregation of  fashionable  men  ;  and  can  a  man  appeal  to  heaven  in  this  way, 
and  be  a  pious  christian  ?  When  I  heard  that  this  doctrine  had  been  advised 
on  this  occasion  by  professional  men,  I  shuddered  at  it." 

On  this  statement  I  beg  leave  to  ask,  first;  Would  an  attorney  of  talents 
and  judgment  have  dared,  in  tlie  olden  times  of  universal  Orthodoxy,  to  take 
his  client  from  the  protection  of  the  civil  law,  and  place  him  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  law  of  honor  ?  Is  the  law  of  honor  the  law  of  God,  or  the  law 
of  the  land  ?  And  yet  in  a  criminal  prosecution  in  this  case,  a  man  of  distin- 
guished talents  publicly  recognised,  in  a  court  of  justice,  and  appealed  to  the 
law  t)f  honor.  Secondh',  In  the  days  of  universal  Orthodoxy,  could  he  have 
taken  this  course  for  his  client  with  the  advice  of  professional  men  ?  Thirdly, 
Could  he  in  times  of  jiredominant  Orthodoxy  in  Boston,  have  avowed  in  a 
court  of  justice,  and  before  Orthodox  judges,  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  duelling  code,  without  reprehension  from  the  bench  ?  Are  not  judges 
bound  to  stop  counsellors  when  they  assert  as  law,  that  which,  notoriously,  is 
not  law  ?  And  to  what  cause  shall  we  ascribe  the  silence  of  the  court,  when 
such  horrid  principles  were  advocated  in  their  presence  ?  Would  such  a  coun- 
sellor have  dared  to  do  such  a  tiling,  half  a  century  earlier  ?  Could  such  a 
man  have  done  it,  when  Orthodox  m.en  adorned  the  seat  of  justice,  without 
prompt  and  merited  rebuke  ?  And  what  a  fearful  change  in  the  moral  sensi- 
bilities of  the  community,  does  the  existence  of  such  a  court,  and  such  an 
advocate,  and  such  professional  advisers,  imply  ?  I  would  inquire  whether 
principles  avowed  by  such  high  authority,  and  so  publicly  avowed,  without 
rebuke,  have  had  no  contaminating  influence  upon  the  young  men  in  the 
higher  classes  of  society  in  Boston .'  Is  there  nothing  to  lament  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  nothing  to  fear.' 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  decided,  that  regularly  organized  churches,  com- 
posed of  real  christians,  are  favorable  to  a  pure  and  strict  morality  among 
men.  They  are  the  light  of  the  world,  the  salt  of  the  earth,  the  organized 
administrators  of  the  influence  of  the  divine  moral  government.     Admitting, 


364 

therefore,  that  all  under  each  system  of  doctrines  who  profess  religion  are 
real  christians,  or  at  least  equally  entitled  to  the  character,  that  system  of 
doctrine  which  produces  the  most  professors  of  religion,  must  be  regarded  as 
producing  the  most  pure  and  strict  morality.  What  then  are  the  comparative 
facts  on  this  subject  in  the  churches  in  Boston,  which  once  were  Orthodox 
and  are  now  Unitarian  ?  We  have  but  one  printed  document — the  history  of 
a  single  church  ;  but  from  this  it  appears  that  there  has  been  a  decline  as  to 
the  numbers  who  openly  profess  religion,  since  the  church  passed  from  under 
Orthodox  to  Unitarian  intluence.  What  the  result  would  be  on  a  comparison 
of  the  present  with  the  former  records  of  all  the  churches  in  Boston  which 
were  once  Orthodox,  but  are  now  Unitarian,  I  cannot  say.  But  I  would  ask 
whether  the  number  of  communicants  in  the  Unitarian  churches  in  Boston, 
bears  any  considerable  proportion  to  the  number  of  communicants  in  the  Or- 
thodox churches ;  though  the  terms  of  admission,  it  must  be  admitted,  are 
much  more  liberal  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter.'  May  I  be  allowed  to  ex- 
tend this  inquiry  to  the  church  in  Cambridge  college,  compared  with  the 
churches  in  Orthodox  colleges.  I  have  been  credibly  informed  within  two 
years,  that  the  actual  number  of  undergraduates  who  were  communicants  in 
the  college  church,  did  not  exceed  nine.  At  the  same  time,  it  appeared  from 
documents,  that  Orthodox  colleges,  possessing  not  more  than  one  third  the 
number  of  students  at  Cambridge,  included  by  two  thirds  a  greater  number  of 
communicants  ;  while  those  Orthodox  colleges  which  contained  nearly  an 
equal  number  of  students,  or  a  small  excess,  contained  nearly  ten  times  the 
number  of  communicants  in  their  churches.  In  respect  to  the  state  of  reli- 
gion and  morals  in  Cambridge  college,  I  forbear  to  ask  any  questions,  as 
distinguished  friends  of  that  institution,  who  regard  the  interests  of  science 
above  the  ascendancy  of  a  sectarian  religion,  have  said  more  than  I  could  find 
it  in  my  heart  to  repeat. 

It  only  remains  that  I  notice  a  few  things  of  a  miscellaneous  nature  before  I 
conclude.  I  have  given  my  res'sons  at  large,  (pp.  255 — 259,  of  this  vol.)  why 
the  Orthodox,  with  their  views  of  doctrine,  should  regard  and  preach  the  Evan- 
gelical system  as  essential  to  christian  character  and  to  eternal  life.  All  these 
explanations  the  reviewer  passes  by  in  silence,  while  he  seeks  to  raise  and 
direct  against  me,  the  indignation'  of  the  whole  body  of  the  Unitarians,  for 
failing  to  recognise  them  as  christians.  He  doubts  "  whether  in  all  I  have 
written  and  said,  I  have  ever  yielded  to  Unitarians,  as  a  body,  the  name  of 
christian."  The  reviewer  should  not  aftect  to  doubt  on  this  subject ;  he 
knows  that  I  do  not  regard  Unitarianism  as  Christianity,  or  Unitarians  who 
UNDERSTAND  the  Evangelical  system  and  reject  it,  and  who  understand  the 
Liberal  system  and  embrace  it,  as  being  christians.  Let  me  not  howevel-  be 
misunderstood.  I  have  never  said  nor  supposed,  that  there  are  no  christians 
in  Unitarian  families,  societies,  and  churches.  These  in  New  England  are  the 
children  of  the  pilgrims  :  some  of  them  are  the  children  of  Orthodox,  pious 
parents,  and  have  been  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  holy  Trinity  of  heaven. 
It  is  comparatively  but  a  little  while,  since,  in  churches  now  called  Unitarian, 
they  heard  from  the  voice  of  their  teachers,  those  doctrines  which  we  regard 
as  the  words  of  eternal  life  ;  and  not  a  few,  as  I  hope,  received  the  grace  of 
God,  and  became  nieinl)ers  of  the  churches  called  Unitarian  before  they  were 
such,  and  at  a  time  when  the  open  avowal  of  UnHarianism,  as  it  has  since 
been  avowed,  would  have  prevented  the  settlement  of  any  man.  Those  who 
have  left  Unitarian  societies  compel  us  to  believe  that  there  were  christians 
belonging  to  them,  and  the  feelings  of  some  who  have  not  left  them,  convince 
us  that  there  are  christians  among  Unitarians.  Indeed,  from  what  I  have 
been  allowed  to  witness  of  the  power  of  truth  in  Boston,  it  is  my  opinion  that 
there  are  many  among  Unitarians  who  feel  a  solemn  reverence  for  God,  and 
his  word  and  worship,  the  active  power  of  a  tender  conscience,  and  the  pres- 
sure of  an  honest  and  earnest  desire  to  know  what  is  truth ;  and  that  with  such, 
Unitarianifim  consists  more  in  aversion  to  Calvinism  as  it  has  been  mis- 
represented, than  in  any  settled  opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  the  evan- 
gelical system,  when  correctly  understood;   and  I  have  thought  that  nothing 


365 

would  be  easier,  could  an  opportunity  be  afforded,  than  the  removal  of  these 
unfounded  prejudices,  and  the  restoration  of  these  children  of  the  pilgrims  to 
the  way  of  their  fathers,  and  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  their  souls.  And  as 
to  the  invidious  complaint  of  our  not  allowing  to  Unitarians  the  name  of  chris- 
tians, it  is  a  complaint  so  unreasonable  and  so  unjust,  that  they  who  make  it, 
pay  but  a  poor  compliment  to  the  understandings  of  Unitarians,  if  tliey  expect 
it  can  long  avail  them  to  create  prejudice,  or  stop  among  them  the  progress  of 
truth.  We  do  no  more  withhold  from  Unitarians  the  christian  character,  than 
they  do  from  us.  We  regard  them  as  rejecting  the  Gospel,  and  they  regard 
us  as  idolaters  ;  and  whatever  they  may  be  pleased  to  say,  after  they  have  in 
effect  stripped  us  of  christian  character,  and  thrust  us  out  of  the  pale  of  the 
church,  and  cut  us  off  from  heaven,  thay  cannot  bring  us  back  again,  or  cover 
up  our  idolatry  with  the  mantle  of  their  charity ;  for  no  point  is  more  abso- 
lutely settled  in  the  Bible,  than  that  idolaters  are  not  christians,  and  can- 
not inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  neither  have  we  any  cause  to  complain 
of  them,  nor  they  of  us.  Unitarians  and  the  Orthodox  are  bound  by  the  high 
command  of  heaven  to  think  for  themselves ;  to  prove  all  things,  and  hold 
fast  that  which  is  good.  In  this  process,  we  come  to  conclusions  so  diverse, 
about  the  doctrines  which  constitute  Christianity,  that  if  one  side  be  right,  the 
other  side  is  wrong.  If  Unitarians  are  right,  we  are  idolaters  ;  and  if  we  are 
right.  Unitarians  are  not  christians.  But,  in  coming  to  these  conclusions,  we 
have  no  sinister  design  respecting ^ach  other.  We  do  not  become  Unitarians 
or  Trinitarians  for  the  sake  of  denying  christian  character  to  each  other  ;  and 
that  we  do  so,  follows  only  as  an  inference  unavoidable  from  our  belief;  for 
as  I  have  said,  it  surpasses  the  power  of  Unitarians,  after  they  have  by  their 
principles  made  us  idolaters,  to  make  us  cluistians  by  their  charity.  Nor  do 
we,  in  judging  for  ourselves,  exercise  any  right  but  our  own,  or  encroach  upon 
the  right  of  each  other.  Unitarians  have  no  claim  to  our  charity,  nor  we  to 
theirs,  unless  it  can  be  granted  in  consistency  with  our  respective  convictions 
of  truth.  We  not  only  have  no  claim  to  the  charity  of  Unitarians,  but  they 
have  no  right  to  grant  it  to  us  in  direct  opposition  to  the  express  decision  of 
the  Bible, — that  idolaters  are  not  christians,  and  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Dr.  Priestley,  whose  candor  I  admire  as  much  as  I  deplore  his  errors, 
says,  "  the  truth  is,  there  neither  can  nor  ought  to  be  any  compromise  be- 
tween us.  If  you  are  right,  we  are  not  christians  at  all ;  and  if  we  are  right, 
you  are  gross  idolaters."  Again  he  says,  "  all  who  believe  Christ  to  be  a  man 
and  not  God,  must  necessarily  think  it  idolatrous  to  pay  him  divine  honor ; 
and  to  call  it  so,  is  no  other  than  the  necessary  consequence  of  our  belief." 
Nay,  he  represents  it  as  "  ridiculous,  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  think 
Trinitarians  idolaters,  without  being  permitted  to  call  them  so ;"  and  adds, 
"  I  have  no  idea  of  being  offended  with  any  man  in  things  of  this  kind,  for 
speaking  what  he  believes  to  be  the  truth." 

As  to  the  charge  of  thrusting  Unitarians  out  of  the  pale  of  the  church,  it  is 
ridiculous.  Have  not  Unitarians  the  privilege  of  forming  churches  of  their 
own,  and  have  not  all  denominations  the  right  of  judging  for  themselves  what 
are  the  qualifications  for  membership  ?  It  is  the  essence  of  liberty  of  con- 
science, that  christians  of  similar  views  in  doctrine  and  experience,  should  be 
allowed  to  associate  for  mutual  usefulness  and  edification.  It  is  the  exercise 
of  this  right  which  constitutes  different  denominations  of  christians,  and  if, 
according  to  the  doctrinal  views  of  the  Orthodox,  Unitarians  cannot  be  re- 
ceived into  fellowship,  have  they  any  claim  upon  us  ?  Let  them  go  to  their 
own  company  and  be  at  peace.  We  do  not  ask  to  be  admitted  to  their 
churches  ;  why  should  they  demand  fellowship  in  ours  ?  It  is  more  for  the 
peace  of  the  religious  community,  that  those  who  differ  radically  should  sepa- 
rate, than  that  discordant  materials  should  be  pressed  together  in  one  commu- 
nity. If  Unitarians  can  hold  fellowship  with  idolaters,  the  Orthodox  cannot 
hold  fellowship  with  those,  who,  according  to  their  views  of  truth,  reject  the 
Gospel.  We  have  a  right  to  judge  for  ovu-selves  what  is  Christianity  ;  and 
Unitarians  have  no  right  to  insist  tliat  they  will  judge  for  themselves  and  for 
OS  too. 

47 


366 

On  p.  35,  the  reviewer  has  charged  me  with  being  guilty  of  a  misrepresen- 
tation of  the  opinions  of  Dr.  Priestley ;  and  with  being  guilty  of  an  artifice 
and  unfairness  unequalled  by  any  writer,  except  perhaps,  Dr.  Magee.  In 
reply,  I  have  to  say, 

I.  That  I  took  the  quotations  at  second  hand  as  I  found  them,  and  though 
I  have  spared  no  pains,  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  the  original  dissertation. 

II.  The  assertion  of  the  reviewer  that  I  have  misrepresented,  is  not  to  be 
taken  in  evidence,  according  to  the  laws  of  controversy ;  and  the  passage 
which  he  has  quoted  contains  no  proof  of  the  fact :  it  is  as  follows ;  "  in  fact, 
there  is  no  greater  reason  to  complain  of  the  lukewarmness  of  the  generality 
of  Unitarians,  than  there  is  of  the  generality  of  christians  of  all  denomina- 
tions."' But  it  is  not  "  lukewarmness"  which  is  the  point  in  debate,  but  com- 
parative purity  and  strictness  of  morality. 

But  in  relation  to  this  point.  Dr.  Priestley  certainly  does  say, 

1.  That  those  who  hold  to  evangelical  doctrines  "have  less  apparent  con- 
formity to  the  world,  and  seem  to  have  more  of  a  real  principle  of  religion." 

2.  That  "  Unitarian  dissenters  do  not  lay  so  much  stress  upon  their  princi- 
ples, as  other  christians  do  upon  theirs." 

3.  That  "  they  are  less  concerned  to  inculcate  their  principles  upon  their 
children,  their  servants,  and  their  dependants  in  general." 

4.  That  great  numbers,  on  becoming  Unitarians  in  the  church  of  England, 
and  even  among  the  clergy,  did  not  feel  the  impropriety  and  absurdity  of  con- 
tinuing to  cor.ntenance  a  mode  of  worship,  which,  according  to  their  own 
principles,  is  idolatrous  and  blasphemous. 

5.  That  "  such  persons  also  have  no  zeal  for  speculative  religion,  and  no 
zeal  for  religion  in  general ;  and  that  their  moral  conduct  though  decent,  is 
not  deemed  strict  and  exemplary." 

Has  not  Dr.  Priestley  made  such  declarations,  and  does  his  declaration 
"  that  there  is  no  more  reason  to  complain  of  the  lukewarmness  of  the  gene- 
rality' of  Unitarians  than  of  the  generality  of  christians  of  all  denominations," 
contradict  or  invalidate  the  above  quotations  ?  iVnd  what  if  Dr.  Priestley  had 
said  one  thing  in  one  place,  and  something  in  opposition  to  it,  in  another  ?  The 
fault  would  not  be  mine,  that  he  contradicted  himself.  Have  I  misrepresented 
the  reviewer,  by  quoting  what  he  has  said  in  one  place  and  apparently  con-  . 
tradicted  in  another.  It  would  be  perilous  quoting  Unitarian  authors,  if  we 
must  be  convicted  of  misrepresenting  them,  because  somewhere,  they  may 
show  that  they  have  contradicted  themselves. 

III.  Other  passages  from  Dr.  Priestley  show  that  his  opinions  have  not 
been  m.isrepresented.  He  says,  as  quoted  by  Fuller,  "  the  doctrines  of  a 
general  and  most  particular  providence,  are  so  leading  a  feature  in  every 
scheme  of  predestination,  it  brings  God  so  near  in  every  thing,  that  an  habitu- 
al and  animated  devotion  is  the  result."  One  would  think  such  a  state  of  mind 
peculiarly  favorable  to  strict  morality. 

Of  Unitarianism,  he  says,  "  It  cannot  be  denied,  that  many  of  those  who 
judge  so  truly  concerning  particular  tenets  of  religion,  have  attained  to  that 
cool,  unbiassed  temper  of  mind,  in  consequence  of  being  more  indifferent  to 
religion  in  general ;  though  therefore,  thej^  are  more  favorably  situated  for 
distinguishing  between  truth  and  falsehood,  they  are  not  likely  to  acquire  a 
zeal  for  what  they  suppose  to  be  truth." 

"  Upon  the  whole,  considering  the  great  mixture  of  spiritual  pride  and 
bigotry  in  some  of  the  most  zealous  Tiinitarians,  I  think  the  moral  charac- 
ter of  Unitarians  in  general,  allowing  that  there  is  among  them  greater  appa- 
rent conformity  to  the  world  than  is  observable  in  others,  approaches  more 
nearly  to  the  proper  temper  of  Christianity.  It  is  more  cheerful,  more  be- 
nevolent, more  candid.  The  former  have  somewhat  less,  and  the  latter  I 
hope  somewhat  more  of  a  real  principle  of  religion,  than  they  seem  to 
have." 

We  may  now  see  why  Dr.  Priestley  thinks  there  is  no  more  reason  to  com- 
plain of  lukewarmness  in  the  Unitarians,  than  in  the  Orthodox.  It  is  because 
lie  hopes  Unitarians  have  more  of  a  principle  of  religion   than  they  seem  to 


367 

have  ;  and  because  he  is  confident  that  the  Orthodox  have  somewhat  less  of  a 
principle  of  religion,  than  they  seem  to  have.  He  admits,  however,  that 
Unitarian  societies  do  not  flourish,  their  members  having  but  a  slight  at- 
tachment to  them,  and  easily  deserting  them,  though  it  is  never  to  be  imagined 
that  they  desert  their  principles. 

IV.  It  was  not  to  prove  Dr.  Priestley's  opinion,  but  to  adduce  his  testimo- 
ny as  to  matters  of  fact,  that  I  gave  the  quotation,  and  the  credibility  of  his 
testimony  is  not,  I  trust,  to  be  annihilated  by  his  ingeniously  accounting  for 
the  facts  to  which  he  testifies,  so  that  Calvinism  shall  receive  no  aid  from 
them,  and  Unitarianism  no  detriment. 

I  now  leave  it  to  the  reviewer  to  say  whether  I  have  been  "guilty  of  an 
artifice  and  an  unfairness,"  in  quoting  Dr.  Priestley,  and  whether  he  has  not 
lacked  his  usual  moderation  and  charity,  in  bringing  against  me  so  serious  a 
charge. 


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